THE  LIBRARY 

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OF  CALIFORNIA 

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LIFE   AND   WORK 


J.  R.  W.  SLOANE,  D.D. 

• 

PROFESSOR    OE   THEOLOGY 
IN    THE    REFORMED   PRESBYTERIAN   SEMINARY   AT   ALLEGHENY   CITY,    PENN. 

I868-I886 

AND   PASTOR   OF  THE   THIRD    REFORMED   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 

NEW  YORK,    1S56-1S68 


EDITED     BY     HIS    SON 


NEW  YORK 
A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND    SON 

1888 


Copyright,  1887, 
By  A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  &  SON. 


BAND   AVEItY    COMPANY, 

ELECTHOTYI'KltS   AND   I'UINTERS, 

BOSTON. 


S&3  A3 


TO 

MRS.  FRANCES   SWANWICK   SLOANE, 

THE  FAITHFUL  AND   LOVING  WIFE  OF  HIM  WHOSE  LABORS  AS  A 
CHRISTIAN  MINISTER,  A  COVENANTER,  AN  ABOLITIONIST, 
A  REFORMER,  AND  A  TEACHER,  AWE,  *^_ 


*TJ  DESCRIBED  IN  ITS  PAGES, 

> 

§  GTJjts  Boon 

IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED. 


461499 


PREFACE. 


This  book  has  been  compiled  and  published  primarily 
for  the  ecclesiastical  connection  with  which  Dr.  Sloane 
was  identified,  and  to  which  his  whole  life  was  devoted. 
It  was  by  the  advice  of  his  friends  in  the  Covenanter 
church  that  the  work  was  undertaken,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  the  result  will  meet  with  their  approval.  The 
materials  were  fragmentary  and  slight,  and  much  that 
was  expected  will  not  be  found ;  but  the  editor  was 
anxious  to  use  only  what  was  of  undoubted  authen- 
ticity. He  hopes  that  due  allowance  will  be  made 
for  his  apparent  shortcomings. 

But  it  is  his  hope  that  the  book  will  find  a  wider 
circulation  than  among  the  members  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  denomination.  For  such  the  introduc- 
tion has  been  prepared  as  essential  to  the  compre- 
hension of  the  man  whose  work  and  character  are 
delineated  in  these  pages.  He  approached  the  great 
questions  of  his  day  from  a  stand-point  strange  to 
many,  and  which  is  only  comprehensible  in  the 
light  of  his  ancestry  and  his  beliefs.  With  the  hope 
that  the  general  reader  and  the  future  historian  will 


4  PREFACE. 

find  something  which  is  of  value  toward  the  compre- 
hension of  the  great  social  and  political  questions  of  the 
period  covered  by  this  life,  the  book  is  put  forth,  not 
merely  as  a  memorial,  but  as  a  slight  contribution  to  the 
biographical  history  of  the  times. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Introductory. — The  Covenanters 9 

II.  Ancestry  and  Parentage 25 

III.  Autobiographical.  —  Childhood,  1823-1640    ...  38 

IV.  Autobiographical.  —  Youth  and  Early  Manhood, 

1840-1856 51 

V.    Autobiographical.  —  Public    Life  in  New  York, 

1856-1868 6S 

VI.     Biographical.  —  Life  in  New  York  and  Pittsburg, 

1868-1886     .' 92 

VII.     Conclusion.  —  Estimates  of  Work  and  Character,  109 

II.  ADDRESSES  AND  A  SERMON  ON  SLAVERY. 

I.  Slavery  in  Church  and  State 120 

II.  The  Church  and  Slavery 132 

III.  The  State  and  Slavery 156 

IV.  Sermon:  The  Character  and  Influence  of  Abo- 

litionism      176 

V.     The  Three  Pillars  of  a  Republic 228 

VI.    Address  to  Mr.  Lincoln 260 

III.  ADDRESSES   ON  NATIONAL  REFORM,  ETC. 

I.     The   Moral   Character  and   Accountability  of 

the  Nation 266 

LI.     Christian  Legislation 285 

5 


\ 


C  CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTEU  PAGE 

III.  Intemperance  a  Hinderance  to  Spiritual  Life   .  299 

IV.  Freemasonry 311 

V.     Theories  of  Evolution* 323 

VI.     Save  the  Youth 337 

VII.     Preaching 343 

VIII.     The  Theology  for  the  Times 362 

IV.     SERMONS. 

I.     The  Word 374 

II.     Our  National  Sins 405 

III.     Christ  in  History 428 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


LIFE  AND  WORK  OF  J.  R.  W.  SLOANE,  D.D. 


I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 
THE    COVENANTEES. 


In  no  country  of  Europe  were  the  logical  conclusions 
of  the  principles  which  underlay  the  Reformation  more 
sharply  drawn  than  in  Scotland.  Ecclesiastical  reform 
in  England  was  inseparably  bound  up  with  political 
and  dynastic  considerations,  and  may  be  said  to  have 
developed  from  above  downward  as  regarded  social  rank. 
In  Scotland  the  process  was  exactly  the  reverse.  It  is 
true  that  the  first  covenanting  body  was  composed  of 
Protestant  nobles,  —  the  lords  of  the  congregation,  —  and 
that  the  reform  of  the  native  church,  in  opposition  to 
the  alien  church  of  Rome,  was  at  first  largely  supported 
by  the  aristocracy ;  but  the  people,  the  common  people, 
moreover,  were  in  the  event  far  more  a  sustaining  power 
than  a  violent  and  selfish  nobility.  The  keen  reasoning 
of  Calvin  was  thoroughly  suited  to  the  native  capacity 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Scotch.  His  teachings  spread  with 
astounding  rapidity  among  a  people  accustomed  through 
the  comparative  slackness  of  its  feudal  ties  to  think  for 
itself.  Thought,  moreover,  was  among  them  sure  to 
lead  to  action;  and  conduct  was  regulated  by  principle. 

9 


10  INTRODUCTORY. 

Southern  Scotland,  therefore,  was  reformed  even  more 
thoroughly  than  Geneva  itself.  Democratic  principles 
in  regard  to  Church  and  State  were  everywhere  firmly 
established.  With  dignity  and  reserve  their  application 
was  limited  to  the  fair  mean  between  extremes  ;  and  the 
Scotch,  while  firmly  maintaining  the  principle  and  prac- 
tice of  local  self-government,  were  yet,  both  in  political 
and  ecclesiastical  matters,  conservative  where  the  realm 
was  concerned.  Throughout  the  greater  part  of  Scot- 
tish Reformation  history,  the  people  were  Royalist  in 
politics,  and  devoted  to  that  representative  system  in 
church  government  which  discarded  the  pure  democ- 
racy of  independency,  and  with  certain  limitations  was 
well-nigh  aristocratic  in  its  methods.  The  pastor  or 
bishop  was  set  apart  to  minister  in  things  divine,  and 
was  always  ex-officio  a  member  of  church  courts ;  while 
the  people,  recognizing  the  clergy  as  a  privileged  class, 
were  content  to  be  represented  by  an  elective  elder- 
ship. 

The  correspondence  between  the  organization  of  soci- 
ety and  that  of  the  church  was  very  close.  The  dignity 
and  privilege  of  the  proprietors  were  willingly  recognized 
by  those  who  farmed  their  lands ;  but  the  children  of 
both  were  taught  in  the  same  parish  school,  shared  the 
same  benches  on  the  Lord's  Day,  and  were  in  riper 
years  bound  together  in  the  close  ties  of  a  common 
education  and  training,  and  a  common  creed.  This 
social  homogeneity  knitted  the  entire  community  firmly 
together. 

These  conditions  were  more  perfectly  fulfilled  as  the 
various  districts  were  farther  from  the  capital  city.  The 
ferment    and    uncertainty   produced    in    Edinburgh   by 


THE  COVENANTERS.  11 

the  introduction  from  various  causes  of  alien  elements 
into  Scotch  life,  affected  the  far  western  shires  compara- 
tively little.  The  character  of  their  inhabitants,  there- 
fore, was  the  result  of  an  undisturbed  development. 
They  were  patriotic  beyond  others ;  for  the  border  forays 
and  the  persistent  antagonism  of  their  English  neighbors 
could  only  serve  to  emphasize  their  nationality,  and  cul- 
tivate a  spirit  of  loyalty.  They  were  essentially  religious 
and  devout,  both  in  mind  and  emotion.  Their  instructors 
were  their  pastors,  and  with  all  secular  knowledge  was 
bound  up  religious  precept.  They  never  doubted  that 
the  fear  of  the  Lord  was  the  beginning  of  wisdom.  The 
exigencies  of  their  lives  required  an  untiring  industry 
and  extreme  frugality ;  while  the  physical  relief  of  their 
native  land,  in  mountain,  moor,  and  valley,  separated 
various  communities  widely  from  each  other,  and  threw 
the  members  of  each  upon  one  another  in  mutual  reli- 
ance. With  a  stern  exterior  and  rugged  countenance 
was  united,  therefore,  a  kind  and  willing  heart.  Their 
occupations  were  largely  those  of  the  farmer  and  the 
shepherd,  and  in  the  isolation  of  those  pursuits  was 
developed  a  reflective  mind.  The  subjects  of  medita- 
tion were  themes  of  the  utmost  importance,  being  in 
general  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion, 
upon  which  turned  the  future  destiny  of  individuals  and 
of  nations,  and  their  present  welfare  in  a  distracted 
and  unhappy  world. 

So  it  was  that  this  people  was  a  remarkable  one. 
They  were  simple,  hardy,  and  fearless.  Their  intelli- 
gence was  marked,  and  their  reasoning  powers  acute. 
Their  thrift  and  capacity  were  renowned.  They  were 
to  be  relied  on  in  religion   and  politics  ;  for  they  held 


12  INTRODUCTORY. 

their  convictions  with  a  persistence  that  seemed  to  many 
like  stubbornness,  and  judged  the  conduct  of  themselves 
and  others  with  an  unflinching  severity  which  often 
brought  on  them  the  charge  of  bigotry.  Their  physical 
vigor  was  in  symmetry  with  their  intellectual  power : 
emotion  and  passion  were  subordinated  to  principle. 
The}  sought  from  this  world  nothing  but  the  necessities 
of  a  simple,  almost  rude,  existence,  and,  while  contemn- 
ing material  pleasure,  found  the  highest  good  in  spiritual 
joys,  and  in  a  contemplation  of  the  other  world  which 
often  rose  to  ecstasy.  Their  book  was  the  Bible.  It 
was  not  only  their  companion  and  guide,  their  rule  of 
faith  and  conduct,  but  it  was  their  friend  and  solace. 
Its  precepts  were  ever  in  their  hearts  and  on  their  lips ; 
its  language  furnished  them  with  a  vehicle  of  familiar 
intercourse ;  its  narratives  were  the  delight  of  their 
childhood  ;  its  poetry  was  the  joy  of  their  youth.  Their 
manhood  found  occupation  in  examining  its  history,  and 
developing  the  story  of  grace  or  the  plan  of  salvation ; 
and  in  the  glowing  imagery  of  its  prophecy,  the  rapt 
visions  of  its  revelations,  old  age  could  disregard  weak- 
ness, pain,  or  want,  and  find  the  peace  and  repose  which 
were  beyond  mere  understanding. 

Hence  it  was,  that,  throughout  the  vicissitudes  of  two 
centuries,  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Reformed  Church 
of  Scotland  were  kept  more  pure  and  perfect  in  the 
south-west  than  elsewhere.  They  were  guarded,  in  fact, 
with  a  jealousy  which  subjected  the  supporters  of  so 
pure  a  Presbyterianism  to  unmerited  obloquy.  All 
Scotland,  to  be  sure,  was  sufficiently  jealous  of  attempted 
encroachment.  Whenever  political  temporizers  like 
James  I.,  or  religious  fanatics  like  Charles  I.,  sought  to 


THE  COVENANTERS.  13 

use  the  Church  for  base  aims,  they  were  reminded,  as 
Andrew  Melville  said  to  the  former,  that  there  were 
"  two  kings  and  two  kingdoms  in  Scotland,  —  King 
James  the  head  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  Christ  Jesus 
the  head  of  the  Church  whose  subject  he  was ; "  or  else 
they  were  met,  as  was  Charles,  by  some  great  rising,  like 
that  of  St.  Giles  under  Alexander  Henderson  and 
Johnston  of  Warriston.  Under  the  stress  of  persecu- 
tion, or  the  temptation  of  so-called  indulgence,  many 
fell  away.  But  their  constant  mindfulness  of  the  prac- 
tice of  entering  into  covenant  with  God  on  every  occa- 
sion of  special  trial,  produced  in  large  numbers  a 
memorable  fortitude  in  withstanding  both  the  assaults 
of  violence  and  the  charms  of  a  repose  that  could  only 
be  purchased  through  unfaithfulness. 

During  the  years  of  the  Restoration,  the  Church  of 
Scotland  was  subjected  to  such  barbarity  as  might  well- 
nigh  quench  it.  But  there  was  always  a  minority,  so 
small,  indeed,  at  times  as  to  be  scarcely  a  remnant,  that 
found  their  highest  earthly  reward  in  bearing  a  testi- 
mony against  defection  and  heresy,  and  in  the  practice 
of  their  simple  and  impressive  worship,  in  field-conven- 
ticles if  need  be,  among  the  wild  recesses  of  the  hills  if 
driven  thither,  and,  in  extremes,  hidden  even  in  caves 
and  lairs,  like  hunted  animals.  They  were  known  suc- 
cessively, as  then  numbers  grew  fewer  and  fewer,  by 
the  names  of  Covenanters,  Protesters,  Conventiclers, 
Hamiltonians,  Hill-folk,  and  lastly  Cameronians,  or 
Society-people.  The  meaning  of  each  of  these  names  is 
sufficiently  clear,  except,  perhaps,  that  of  the  last,  which 
was  taken  from  their  habit  when  deprived  of  their  clergy 
by  persecution,  or,  as  sometimes  happened,  abandoned 


14  INTRODUCTORY. 

by  them  in  straits,  of  assembling  in  societies  to  pray  and 
worship,  and  keep  each  other  steadfast.  History  and  lit- 
erature have  never  celebrated  the  embodiment  of  nobler 
qualities  than  were  to  be  found  among  the  Covenanters, 
—  devotion,  courage,  fortitude,  and  piety.  But  their 
story  has  too  often  been  written  by  their  enemies.  They 
have  been  ungenerously  judged  from  the  stand-point 
of  another  age  ;  their  weaknesses  have  been  magnified ; 
their  aims  have  been  perversely  misrepresented ;  and  by 
the  great  Scottish  wizard  an  image  of  bigotry,  cruelty, 
and  contentious  frowardness  has  been  fixed  over  their 
name  in  the  consciousness  of  the  great  reading-public, 
which  is  a  sheer  invention  with  no  corresponding  reality 
or  slightest  basis  in  fact.  Their  faults,  for  of  course 
they  had  them,  were  the  faults  of  their  age,  of  their 
barbarous  treatment,  and  of  the  stress  of  various  cir- 
cumstances :  their  splendid  virtues  were  their  own. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland  was  closely  re- 
lated to  that  of  Scotland ;  though  many  of  the  English 
emigrants  who  went  out  under  James  I.  to  the  planta- 
tion of  Ulster,  joined  with  their  Scotch  co-religionists 
who  settled  there  at  the  same  time  in  its  establishment. 
When,  however,  its  ministers  were  silenced  by  Went- 
worth,  they  returned  to  Scotland,  and  were  present  at 
the  memorable  signing  of  the  National  Covenant  in 
1638.  Ireland  was  also  included  in  the  Solemn  League 
and  Covenant ;  and  when,  on  the  Restoration,  attempts 
were  made  to  put  down  Presbyterianism  there  as  else- 
where, only  one-tenth  of  the  Ulster  ministers  conformed. 
As  a  result,  conventicles  were  held  everywhere ;  and 
they  were  conducted  in  great  measure  by  young  Cov- 
enanting ministers  from    Scotland.     These  were    soon, 


THE  COVENANTERS.  15 

however,  compelled  to  flee  to  Scotland  ;  and  their  fol- 
lowers, left  without  guidance,  perpetuated  their  corporate 
existence  by  the  formation  of  those  societies  for  prayer 
and  fellowship  to  which  they  always  resorted  in  troubled 
times.  In  the  course  of  sixty-seven  years  they  had  the 
services  of  but  two  ordained  ministers,  and  it  was  not 
until  1763  that  the  first  Reformed  Presbytery  was  con- 
stituted. They  now  have  about  forty  congregations 
and  six  thousand  communicants.  The  schisms  which 
characterize  the  history  of  the  Irish  Church  from  1671 
to  1840  were  due  to  various  causes,  all  of  them,  how- 
ever, springing  in  one  way  or  another  from  the  opposing 
tendencies  of  those  who  held  to  ecclesiastical  restraint 
and  discipline,  and  of  those  who  abhorred  them,  and 
appealed  to  the  right  of  private  judgment.  After  the 
skirmish  at  Bothwell  Brigg,  they  fell  into  royal  disfavor 
because  of  their  Scotch  origin  and  connection  ;  but  from 
the  time  of  William,  by  far  the  largest  number  of 
ministers  and  churches  were  reconciled  to  the  govern- 
ment, although  they  were  never  placed  on  an  equal 
legal  footing  with  the  Episcopalians. 

The  organization  of  the  Scottish  Kirk  under  William 
was  so  conducted  as  to  avoid  all  mention  of  the  Cove- 
nants. The  Presbvterianism  of  1690  was  not  that  of 
1638.  The  great  mass  of  the  people  had  been  cowed 
into  timidity,  or  were  become  careless  of  early  belief 
and  custom.  Accordingly,  the  remnant  of  sincere 
Covenanters  were  refused  admission  to  the  first  General 
Assembly  of  the  Scotch  Church,  although  their  ministers 
were  received  by  that  body.  They  had  friends  and 
sympathizers  in  Ireland  with  whom  intercourse1  was 
close  and  frequent ;  and  by  mutual  consent  in  both  coun- 


16  INTRODUCTORY. 

tries,  they  held  themselves  entirely  aloof  from  any  of 
the  various  Presbyterian  bodies,  remaining  true  to  their 
principles,  conducting  their  societies  or  weekly  prayer- 
meetings,  and  awaiting  what  Providence  had  in  store  for 
them.  The  real  temper  of  the  Scotch  national  church 
was  shown  by  the  deposition  of  John  McMillan  in 
1707,  from  his  parish  of  Balmaghie,  for  advocating  the 
principles  of  covenanting  Presbyterianism.  In  174-3 
was  finally  formed,  by  him  and  Thomas  Nairn,  a  Seceder 
clergyman,  a  presbytery  of  Reformed  Presbyterians,  or 
Covenanters ;  and  thenceforth  they  have  had  a  continu- 
ous ecclesiastical  history  in  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  after- 
ward, with  one  interruption,  in  America. 

Throughout  their  history  they  had  had  cause,  both 
to  suspect  and  fear  the  English  Government.  It  had 
exterminated  their  forefathers,  and  broken  its  promises 
under  the  Stuarts ;  and  when,  on  the  accession  of  the 
Guelphs,  more  moderate  and  statesmanlike  views  pre- 
vailed, they  were  yet  doomed  to  see  the  historic  contin- 
uity of  their  Church  broken,  its  standards  weakened, 
and  its  most  cherished  practice  thrown  aside.  Wher- 
ever, therefore,  throughout  all  the  last  century,  there 
was  a  Covenanter  in  the  British  Isles,  the  British  Gov- 
ernment had  a  subject  inclined  to  suspicion,  with  little 
or  no  patriotism,  and  determined'  by  no  act  to  identify 
himself  as  a  citizen  with  its  constitution  or  its  interests, 
so  far  as  to  preclude  him  from  bearing  witness  against 
error,  or  protesting  against  persecution  or  tyranny. 
There  never  was  a  body  of  men  who  had  suffered  more 
for  conscience'  sake:  their  love  for  freedom,  therefore, 
was  nothing  less  than  a  passion,  —  they  had  been  deserted 
by  the  aristocracy  ;  their  feclirfgs  and  polity  became  in 


THE  COVENANTERS.  17 

the  highest  degree  democratic,  —  they  had  fought  and 
suffered  for  the  principles  of  a  historical  church ;  they 
grew  to  be  tenacious  of  form  and  ritual,  especially  in  the 
communion  service,  and  stringent  in  upholding  doctrine, 
from  the  greatest  principle  to  the  minutest  detail ;  sub- 
jected to  obloquy  at  every  step,  their  powers  of  endurance 
became  phenomenal,  and  their  naturally  keen  intellects 
were  sharpened  by  dispute  into  an  extraordinary  acumen. 
In  observing  the  outrageous  insufficiency  of  the  govern- 
ments which  had  been  set  over  them,  they  discovered 
the  true  significance  of  the  kingly  office  of  their  Saviour, 
dwelling  upon  his  person  and  office  with  passionate 
devotion  ;  and,  accustomed  to  self-sacrifice,  they  found 
their  mission  in  renouncing  formal  allegiance  to  all 
civil  government  not  founded  upon  the  headship  of 
Christ,  and  bearing  witness  through  good  and  bad 
report  for  human  freedom  and  divine  government. 

In  1863  the  majority  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterians 
held  that  their  position  of  dissent  from  the  political 
institutions  of  Scotland  was  no  longer  tenable.  A  divis- 
ion took  place,  and  the  minority  stood  firm  by  the  old 
position.  The  others  were  incorporated  after  1876  in 
the  Free  Church.  In  common  with  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Synod  in  Ireland,  the  former  "  claim  to 
occupy  the  same  ground  as  did  the  church  of  the  Second 
Reformation,  adhere  to  the  Covenants,  hold  the  divine 
right  of  Presbytery,  use  the  Psalms  of  inspiration  exclu- 
sively as  matter  of  praise,  and.  as  a  corollary  from  the 
doctrine  of  Christ's  universal  Headship,  refuse  all  such 
recognition  of  the  political  institutions  of  the  country  as 
would  commit  their  church  to  the  royal  ecclesiastical 
supremacy,  and  compromise  its  testimony  to  the  crown- 


18  INTRODUCTORY. 

rights    of    Christ."     They    have    seven    ministers    and 
twelve  congregations.1 

These  are  the  facts  which  make  perfectly  clear  and 
consistent  the  course  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterians  in 
America,  and  explain  not  only  their  practice  and  doc- 
trine, but  also  their  peculiar  attitude  of  kind  but  firm 
opposition  to  the  various  bodies  of  Presbyterians  which 
are  apparently  so  closely  allied  to  them  in  both.  These 
latter  are  well  and  favorably  known  to  history  under 
the  various  names  of  Associate  Presbyterians,  Seceders, 
Associate  Reformed  Presbyterians,  Burghers  and  Anti- 
Burghers,  and,  since  the  union  of  nearly  all  of  them 
in  America,  under  that  of  United  Presbyterians.  They 
all  had  their  origin  after  the  year  1690  in  the  combina- 
tion  of  the  men  representing  the  true  germ  of  ancient 
Presbyterianism  in  the  Scottish  Kirk  against  the  latitu- 
dinarianism  of  that  body  in  one  direction  or  another,  but 
especially  against  the  burden  of  patronage.  They  came 
out  of  it  with  hearts  loyal  to  their  country  and  govern- 
ment, but  finding  it  impossible  to  live  in  harmony  with 
the  so-called  "  moderates."  The  religious  temper  of 
the  times  was  unfortunately  intolerant,  men  were  des- 
perately in  earnest ;  and  the  same  causes  which  led  the 
Reformed  Church  of  all  Europe  to  accent  minor  differ- 
ences to  the  point  of  denominational  separation  and 
sectarian  enmity,  had  similar  disastrous  results  within 
the  pale  of  Presbyterianism.  To  all  these,  therefore, 
were  opposed  the  Covenanters;  as  against  the  establish- 
ment, they  looked  upon  themselves  as  representing  the 
historic  continuity  of  Presbyterianism;  as  against  all 
seceding  sects,  they  felt  there  could  be  no  middle  course 

1  Proceedings  of  the  First  General  Presbyterian  Council,  p.  852. 


THE  COVENANTERS.  19 

that  was  tenable,  and  regarded  with  pity  any  attempt 
to  be  reconciled  with  bitter  and  misguided  foes,  and 
charged  them  with  maintaining  the  doctrine  of  passive 
obedience. 

During  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  a 
number  of  families  in  communion  with  the  Reformed 
Presbyterians  of  Scotland  and  Ulster  had  emigrated  to 
the  American  Colonies,  and  settled  in  small  and  scat- 
tered communities  throughout  the  Carolinas  and  Penn- 
sylvania. The  Presbyterian  churches  around  them  were 
branches  of  the  Scotch  and  Irish  churches  with  which 
they  had  had  no  fellowship  at  home,  because  in  some 
degree  they  all  owned  allegiance  to  the  constitution  of 
Great  Britain,  which,  in  the  minds  of  Covenanters,  was 
an  immoral  establishment.  In  the  distant  settlements 
of  America  some  forgot  the  dissensions  of  Europe,  and. 
longing  for  church  ordinances,  united  their  ecclesiastical 
fortunes  with  the  nearest  organization.  But  there  were 
still  many  who  felt  their  duty  to  be  equally  binding 
under  any  skies,  and,  true  to  instinct  and  principle,  held 
aloof  from  their  neighbors,  and  once  again  found  the 
means  to  perpetuate  their  testimony  and  their  organic 
existence  in  those  praying  bands  or  societies  which  had 
long  given  a  name  to  their  ancestors  in  Scotland.  In 
1743  they  joined  at  Middle  Octorara  in  Pennsylvania  in 
the  solemn  act  of  renewing  before  God  the  covenant  - 
vows  of  the  Scottish  Church  in  the  glorious  days  of  the 
second  reformation,  as  they  called  the  days  of  Knox  ami 
Melville.  For  eight  years  longer  they  lived  without 
any  pastor.  Their  mother  church  in  Scotland  then 
supplied  one  who  labored  alone,  but  diligently  and 
fearlessly,  for  twenty  years.     Mr.  Cuthbertson's  position 


20  INTRODUCTORY. 

in  the  colonies  was  not  far  removed  from  the  danger 
and  reproach  of  the  days  of  martyrdom  in  Scotland. 
The  Southern  colonies  were  beset  with  agents,  who 
sought  to  secure  them  for  the  Established  Church  of 
England ;  and  the  tyranny  of  the  crown  governors  is 
matter  of  history.  At  last,  in  1774,  two  clergymen 
were  sent  out  by  the  Reformed  Presbytery  of  Ireland ; 
and  they,  with  their  predecessor,  organized  the  Cov- 
enanter Church  in  America. 

As  the  days  of  1776  drew  near,  the  Covenanters  were 
active,  zealous,  and  hopeful.  They  paid  and  fought 
and  died  for  American  liberty.  In  all  their  adopted 
country,  there  could  be  no  others  more  deeply  animated 
by  the  justice  of  the  American  cause,  nor  more  deter- 
mined in  resistance  to  British  oppression.  In  the  enthu- 
siasm for  a  common  cause  and  the  love  of  ecclesiastical 
and  civil  liberty,  the  clergymen  and  a  few  of  their  fol- 
lowers gave  up  their  distinct  organization,  and  joined 
with  the  ministry  of  the  Associate  Church  under  the 
name  of  Associate  Reformed.  When,  however,  the  din 
of  battle  died  away,  and  peace  returned,  it  was  found 
by  some  of  the  people,  that,  while  the  terms  of  that 
union  asserted  their  cherished  principles,  it  was  the 
Reformed  Presbyterians  who  had  joined  the  Seceders, 
and  that  the  movement  was,  therefore,  in  their  opinion, 
a  rupture  of  the  historic  continuity  of  the  church,  and  a 
schism.  A  number  therefore  refused  to  join  in  the 
union  of  1780.  Those  who  did  not  join  were  in  a 
minority,  and  without  a  ministry.  It  was  nearly  four 
years  before  their  calls  to  Europe  were  answered  by  the 
arrival  of  a  missionary  from  the  Reformed  Presbytery 
of  Scotland. 


THE  COVENANTERS.  21 

Meantime  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
under  consideration.  There  were  many  devout  men  in 
the  Convention  which  framed  it.  But  prevailing  mis- 
conceptions as  to  the  nature  of  government  and  the 
state,  a  consideration  of  the  condition  of  the  church 
throughout  Europe  in  relation  to  established  govern- 
ments combined  with  the  pronounced  irreligion  of  many 
of  the  leading  minds  in  the  convention,  led  to  the  exclu- 
sion from  that  remarkable  instrument  of  every  acknowl- 
edgment of  Christianity,  or  even  of  the  authority  of 
God.  It  was  found,  therefore,  and,  on  its  promulga- 
tion, was  openly  pronounced  to  be,  in  so  far  an  immoral 
instrument.  This  led  to  a  closer  consolidation  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterians  in  America. 

Others  imbued  with  the  same  principles  followed,  both 
from  Scotland  and  Ireland;  and  in  the  spring  of  1798, 
a  presbytery  was  constituted  once  again.  Its  members 
were  scattered  from  Vermont  to  South  Carolina.  The 
insurrectionary  movement  in  Ireland,  known  as  that  of 
the  United  Irishmen,  swept  many  Irish  Covenanters 
from  their  foundations.  They  were  determined  enemies 
of  a  monarchy  which  claimed  to  be  the  head  of  the 
Church,  and  opposed  to  the  Anglican  establishment, 
or  any  form  of  priestly  domination.  They  hoped, 
therefore,  for  a  change,  and,  while  abhorring  the 
principles  and  purposes  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  were 
yet  expectant  of  good  from  the  movement.  In  that 
attitude  of  mind,  and  sympathizing,  as  many  of  them 
did,  with  the  incipient  revolution,  they  were  mis- 
understood, and  often  in  a  time  of  martial  law  marked 
for  punishment.  Large  numbers  fled,  and  settled  in 
various   parts    of   the    United   States.     The    Reformed 


22  INTRODUCTORY. 

Presbyterian  Church  in  America  became  a  substantial, 
visible  organization,  closely  affiliated,  as  was  natural, 
with  its  fellow-churches  in  Scotland  and  Ireland.  It 
has  had  a  prosperous  and  continuous  history  as  an 
American  church  to  our  day.  The  question  as  to  the 
relation  between  Church  and  State  has  always  been  a 
living  one ;  and  its  discussion  resulted,  in  1833,  in  the 
formation  of  an  independent  synod,  by  those  who  held,  it 
proper  for  Covenanters  to  discharge  the  duties  and 
enjoy  the  privileges  of  citizenship.  With  these  latter 
our  introductory  narrative  has  nothing  further  to  do. 

The  principles  and  conduct  of  the  Reformed  Presby- 
terians have  been  logically  consistent.  They  strenuously 
uphold  the  necessity  for  the  union  of  the  visible  Church. 
But  the  fact  of  its  division  into  sects  is  unalterable  until, 
in  the  progress  of  history,  that  splendid  union  shall 
be  consummated  amid  conditions  not  yet  reached.  It 
seems  to  them,  therefore,  more  profitable  for  the  Church 
and  the  world,  that,  until  that  day,  they  should  continue 
a  separate  organization  for  the  stronger  emphasis  of 
the  great  principles  which  they  represent. 

They  hold  firm  to  the  supremacy  of  the  Church  courts 
in  all  that  affects  the  spiritual  life.  They  believe  in 
strong  ecclesiastical  organization,  in  the  special  function 
of  the  ministry,  in  a  historical  ordination,  and  in  the 
Presbyterian  form  of  church  government  as  the  most 
thoroughly  realizing  the  Scriptural  practice  and  idea. 
In  doctrine  they  are  Calvinistic,  and  construe  literally 
the  Calvinistic  creeds  and  standards:  believing  in  a 
historic  scriptural  church,  they  exclude,  except  in  emer- 
gencies, from  their  church  privileges  and  ordinances, 
those    who    do    not    publicly    profess    their  creed,  and 


THE  COVENANTERS.  23 

habitually  conform  to  their  order.  In  the  conduct  of 
church  services  they  exclude  all  written  liturgies,  hut 
hold  firm  to  the  traditionary  practices  of  their  ancestors. 
They  use,  as  a  close  transcript  of  the  original,  the 
amended  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms,  based  upon 
that  of  House,  and  commonly  used  by  the  Scottish 
churches  ;  avoiding  all  other  hymnology  as  unscriptural, 
and  not  of  divine  ordering.  Their  praise  is  purely  con- 
gregational, and  is  led  by  a  precentor  or  a  choir  unaided 
by  any  musical  instrument.  In  prayer  the  use  of  scrip- 
tural language  for  the  expression  of  worship  and  desire 
is  well-nigh  universal ;  the  selection  and  ordering  of 
the  petitions,  ascriptions  of  praise,  and  acknowledg- 
ments of  mercy,  being,  of  course,  left  to  the  free  choice 
of  each  individual.  In  the  celebration  of  the  sacraments 
they  have  rigid  forms,  hallowed  by  use,  and  suited  to 
their  edification.  In  simple  dignity  they  literally  sit 
at  the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  partake  of  the  elements  as 
they  pass  from  hand  to  hand,  while  the  pastor  admon- 
ishes them  of  the  solemnity  and  awful  significance  of 
the  sacrificial  act.  Such  a  conformity  to  the  history 
and  tradition  of  the  ordinance  is  characteristic  of  their 
intellectual  attitude  in  every  thing  pertaining  to  reli- 
gion. At  due  intervals  they  renew  with  God  their 
covenant  to  abide  by  their  principles,  and  serve  him  in 
godly  fear. 

But  the  isolated  position  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  is  only  to  be  understood  by  their  attitude  with 
reference  to  human  liberty,  and  to  the  nature  and  func- 
tions of  civil  government.  Its  members  have  always 
refused  to  become  politically  identified  with  the  United- 
States  Government,  because  its  Constitution  sanctioned 


24  INTRODUCTORY. 

negro-slavery,  and  derived  the  powers  of  government 
from  the  will  of  the  people,  and  not  from  God,  accord- 
ing to  the  authority  and  teaching  of  Scripture.  They 
believe  that  the  State,  like  the  Church,  is  an  ordinance 
of  God.  The  nation  is  a  conscious,  moral,  responsible 
organism.  It  must  be  organized  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  morality,  or  else  it  is  not  in  its  fulness  legiti- 
mate ;  although  every  true  government,  including  that 
of  the  United  States,  is  only  clothed  with  authority  as 
an  ordinance  of  God.  From  any  such  civil  establish- 
ment it  is  right  to  dissent  and  to  hold  aloof.  They 
hold  it,  however,  necessary  to  live  peaceably  with  all 
men,  to  advance  the  good  of  society,  to  assist  in  the 
execution  of  justice,  to  pay  their  taxes,  and  "  to  submit 
to  every  burden  which  God  in  his  providence  calls  upon 
them  to  bear."  But  they  do  not  vote  in  any  elections 
except  those  which  submit  Constitutional  amendments, 
accept  no  situations  under  government,  and  do  not 
serve  on  juries. 


II. 

ANCESTRY  AND   PARENTAGE. 

It  is  believed  by  his  descendants,  although  there  is  no 
documentary  evidence,  or  even  certain  knowledge,  that 
their  first  known  ancestor  was  Albert  Sloane  of  Ayr- 
shire, Scotland.  When  the  family  history  gains  a  firm 
basis  in  its  accurate  knowledge  of  one  of  his  sons,  it 
seems  likely  from  all  the  circumstances,  that  Albert, 
whose  name  at  least  is  certain,  was  either  a  large  farmer 
or  one  of  the  loAver  gentry,  a  class  which  contributed 
largely  to  the  numbers  of  Covenanter  martyrs  and 
heroes  whose  names  adorn  the  annals  of  south-western 
Scotland.  In  either  case  he  was  a  man  of  means,  and 
his  family  was  in  affluent  circumstances  ;  for  both  his 
sons,  William  and  Lambert,  inherited  a  comfortable  for- 
tune, enough  at  least  to  enable  them  to  make  occasional 
journeys  for  pleasure,  and  to  indulge  themselves  in  the 
somewhat  costly  luxury  of  books  and  other  like  refine- 
ments :  and  the  elder  married  a  wife  of  gentle  birth. 

Lambert's  home,  according  to  family  tradition,  was 
always  in  Scotland,  although  he  spent  a  portion  of 
his  time  in  later  days  with  his  brother  William  :  and  it 
is  not  certain  whether  Albert,  or  his  older  son.  William, 
was  the  first  to  settle  in  Ireland  ;  it  was  probably  the 
latter,  who,  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 


26  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

established  the  family  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lame, 
the  port  of  Belfast,  where  there  was  a  small  community 
of  Covenanters.  William  Sloane  was  a  man  of  marked 
intelligence,  and  of  a  piety  so  devoted,  and  an  adherence 
to  his  principles  so  rigid,  that  he  was  often  spoken  of  as 
the  Last  of  the  Covenanters.  His  home  was  a  stone 
house,  still  standing,  on  a  hillside  above  the  town,  over- 
looking the  loch  and  the  coast  of  the  North  Channel  to 
the  north,  and  across  St.  Patrick's  Channel  eastward 
away  to  the  Mull  of  Galloway.  His  frame  was  as  stal- 
wart as  his  mind  was  clear,  and  his  force  at  eighty  years 
was  unabated.  The  maiden-name  of  his  wife  was  Jane 
Robinson.  She  was  of  the  well-known  Scotch  family 
of  that  name.  Her  grandchildren  remembered  her 
son's  repeated  tributes  to  her  memory  as  a  devoted  wife 
and  a  good  mother,  and  his  accounts  of  her  brave  fight 
against  adversity  when  misfortunes  overtook  the  family, 
and  of  her  success  in  retrieving  their  fortunes  when  an 
opportune  legacy  fell  in.  She,  too,  reached  a  ripe  old 
age,  which  was  spent  in  comfortable  circumstances  at 
her  husband's  side.  Her  brother  John  was  one  of  the 
early  pioneers  in  Pennsylvania.  He  was  an  ardent 
patriot,  and  fought  through  the  War  of  Independence 
in  a  cavalry  regiment  from  that  State.  He  moved  west 
of  the  mountains  after  the  Revolution.  The  name  is 
still  a  most  honorable  one  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  but 
it  is  not  certain  whether  or  not  he  was  the  founder  of 
the  family. 

The  liberty-loving  spirit  of  the  Covenanters  always 
throw  their  sympathies  into  the  scale  on  the  side  of 
America;  hut,  in  the  case  of  the  Sloane  family,  this  con- 
nection with  John  Robinson  intensified  and  strengthened 


ANCESTRY   AND  PARENTAGE.  27 

their  feelings  to  a  high  degree.  It  is  well  remembered 
in  the  family  that  Paul  Jones  fought  the  "  Drake "  in 
Larne  Harbor  on  a  sabbath  afternoon.  The  two  ships 
were  in  sight  of  Larne  the  greater  part  of  the  day,  and 
manoeuvred  for  the  weather-gage.  About  the  time  of 
the  engagement,  Mrs.  Sloane  and  a  friend  were  return- 
ing from  afternoon  service,  probably  a  society  meeting, 
when  they  heard  the  broadsides  in  rapid  succession. 
The  people  in  and  about  Larne  had  been  roused  to  in- 
tense interest,  and  knew  from  the  colors  which  was  the 
British  and  which  the  American  vessel.  As  they  looked 
across  the  glittering  waves  to  where  the  westering  sun 
threw  his  slanting  rays  athwart  the  white  sails  of  the 
contesting  vessels,  —  for  the  action  was  comparatively 
long,  —  the  suspense  was  to  many  agonizing,  and  they 
fell  on  their  knees  in  prayer.  On  their  way  home  Mrs. 
Sloane  and  her  companion  met  with  a  Seceder.  "  Ah !  " 
said  the  latter,  "  I  have  been  praying  all  day  for  the 
1  Drake.' "  —  "  And  I,"  said  the  Covenanter,  "  have  been 
praying  all  day  for  Paul  Jones." 

There  were  six  children  born  to  William  Sloane  in 
Larne,  —  John  Robinson,  Jane,  Margaret,  Albert,  Gri- 
selda,  and  William.  John  was  a  bold,  daring,  fearless, 
and  dashing  boy.  He  fought  in  the  English  navy  as 
an  officer  on  the  ship  of  Sir  William  Sidney  Smith,  and 
was  often  picked  out  by  that  officer  —  himself  so  noted 
for  his  daring — as  his  best  leader  for  some  especially 
hazardous  venture.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  took 
command  of  a  merchant-ship  trading  to  the  West  Indies. 
and  was  taken  down  with  the  yellow-fever.  When  but 
partially  recovered,  he  ascended  the  rigging  to  give  per- 
sonal attention  to  some  repairs,  became  giddy,  fell  to 


28  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

the  deck,  and  was  killed.  Alfred,  the  second  son,  while 
a  mere  child,  was  drowned :  he  was  reaching  over  the 
brink  of  a  well  for  daisies  that  grew  between  the  stones, 
and  fell  in.  The  two  eldest  daughters  married :  the 
third  died  a  spinster.  The  second,  Mrs.  Gilbert,  had 
offspring ;  but  there  are  no  surviving  descendants  in  this 
generation. 

The  youngest  son,  William,  born  in  1786,  was  a  shy, 
timid,  nervous,  shrinking  boy,  the  very  antipodes  of  his 
brother,  to  whom,  in  early  years,  he  clung  as  the  vine 
to  the  oak.  He  was  thoughtful,  studious,  a  diligent 
reader,  and  passionately  fond  of  learning ;  he  received 
a  thorough  classical  and  mathematical  education  ;  he 
was  at  first  book-keeper  for  a  large  salt-manufacturing 
establishment,  but  it  failed  about  the  close  of  the  Napo- 
leonic wars,  and  he  then  devoted  himself  to  teaching ; 
he  soon  became  principal  of  the  academy  in  the  neigh- 
boring town  of  Carmany,  where  he  lived  for  some  years 
in  the  family  of  Mr.  McNiece ;  he  was,  of  course,  the 
teacher  and  friend  of  Mr.  McNiece's  children :  and  with 
one  of  the  daughters,  Mary,  his  fate  was  destined  to  be 
linked  ;  he  married  her  in  1816,  and  almost  immediately 
sailed  for  Quebec. 

I  am  fortunately  able  to  give  my  father's  estimate  of 
his  father  and  mother  in  his  own  words.  Of  the  latter 
he  wrote,  "  She  was  good-looking,  by  some  called  hand- 
some ;  had  auburn  hair  that  never  turned  gray,  blue 
eyes,  and  a  fair  complexion  ;  she  was  well-educated,  and 
expressed  herself  with  ease;  she  was  very  energetic, 
full  of  resources  and  forethought.  The  thirty-first  chap- 
ter of  Proverbs,  the  poetry  excepted,  is  to  her  strictly 
applicable,  —  read  it  literally.      1  do  not  speak  of  per- 


ANCESTRY  AND  PARENTAGE.  29 

fection  ;  but  all  who  knew  her  loved  her,  and  accorded 
to  her  the  possession  of  rare  virtues.  What  I  owe  to 
her,  in  common  with  all  her  children,  I  am  not  able 
with  dim  eyes  and  faltering  hand  to  trace  here. 

';  My  father  was  about  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height, 
of  a  spare  habit,  with  stooped,  though  not  round,  shoul- 
ders :  his  head  was  large  and  massive,  measured  more 
in  circumference  by  one  or  two  inches  than  what  are 
commonly  called  the  largest  heads  ;  being,  I  remember, 
exactly  the  size  of  Henry  Clay's.  It  was  a  striking 
peculiarity  that  it  lay  almost  entirely  forward  of  his 
ears.  His  brow  was  high  and  broad,  —  not  unusually 
broad,  but  hung  in  a  heavy  mass  over  his  deep-set  eyes, 
which  were  large,  steel-gray,  expressive,  with  a  peculiar 
upward  turn  or  roll.  I  once  heard  such  eyes  described 
as  ocean-like.  His  nose  was  large,  not  hooked,  with  a 
fair  jaw  and  chin.  He  had  a  peculiar  walk,  —  feet 
planted  firmly,  each  directly  in  front  of  itself,  as  if 
measuring  his  steps,  body  bent  in  the  middle,  and  heavy 
head  inclined  forward,  —  a  walk  unlike  that  of  any 
other  man  I  ever  saw,  and  memorable  to  those  ac- 
quainted with  him.  He  could  be  known  by  it  as  far 
as  seen. 

"  He  was  a  man  of  high  attainments  in  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew,  especially  in  the  latter.  His  Hebrew 
Uiblc  was  literally  worn  out,  —  the  only  one  I  have  ever 
seen  in  that  condition.  He  was  well  read  in  the  older 
English  classics,  both  in  prose  and  poetry,  and  possessed 
a  memory  of  marvellous  tenacity.  His  temperament 
inclined  to  melancholy,  but  was  relieved  by  a  vein  of 
humor.  He  relished  a  good  joke,  and  used  to  regret. 
late  in  life,  that  he  had  lost  the  art  of  telling  one.     I 


30  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

owe  to  him  any  inclination  toward  learning  and  litera- 
ture I  may  have. 

••  As  a  preacher  he  was  original  and  profound.  With- 
out any  rhetorical  art  or  elocutionary  training,  he  was 
sometimes  truly  eloquent.  There  was.  at  times,  a  clear- 
ness in  his  conception,  a  pathos  in  his  tones,  and  a 
poetic  cast  to  his  language,  that  was  exceedingly  im- 
pressive. Professor  J.  M.  Wilson,  after  hearing  him  on 
a  certain  occasion,  said  he  was  a  very  great  preacher. 
Rev.  James  Wallace  ijave  this  testimony :  ;  I  never 
heard  a  man  by  whom  I  felt  myself  so  completely  fed, 
as  by  your  father,  when  at  his  best.'  I  cannot  say, 
however,  that  he  was  ever  a  popular  preacher  with  the 
masses,  but  he  was  with  the  most  intelligent.  His 
speaking  was  talking,  for  the  most  part  without  gesture. 
My  own  impression  is,  that  he  was  unequal,  influenced 
by  his  moods  ;  and  that  his  own  feelings  at  the  time, 
the  subject  and  the  occasion,  had  even  more  than  usual 
influence  upon  him. 

"He  was  noted  —  here  I  can  scarcely  speak  in  exag- 
gerated terms  —  for  his  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures. 
This  was  due  to  three  causes :  first,  a  marvellous  mem- 
ory ;  second,  using  the  Bible  as  the  only  reading-book 
in  the  schools  for  many  years  ;  third,  a  persistent  and 
close  study  of  it.  both  in  the  original  and  the  translations. 
Hr  was  often  spoken  of  as  a  walking  concordance." 

Nothing  could  be  more  characteristic  of  the  subject  of 
this  memoir  than  these  little  sketches  thrown  off  in  the 
intimacy  of  familiar  intercourse  by  letter.  The  order 
in  which  the  traits  of  his  loved  parents  occurred  to  him 
forms  a  climax,  and  is  most  significant ;  their  physical 
appearance    as    he    recalled    them    to    the    eye    of    his 


ANCESTRY  AND  PARENTAGE.  31 

memory,  their  intellectual  power,  their  character,  their 
spiritual  quality  and  gifts. 

Immediately  after  his  arrival  in  Quebec,  William 
Sloane  repaired  at  once  to  Coldenham  in  Orange  County, 
N.Y.,  and  commenced  the  study  of  theology  under  the 
Rev.  James  Renwick  Willson,  D.D.  Of  him  Dr.  Forsyth 
of  Newburg,  for  many  years  chaplain  at  the  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point,  who  had  seen  many  men  and 
many  lands,  declared  that  he  was  the  greatest  pulpit- 
orator  he  had  ever  heard.  "  Take  him  for  all  in  all," 
my  father  often  concluded  some  interesting  narrative 
about  him,  ';  he  was,  in  all  my  observation  of  men,  the 
greatest  man  I  have  ever  seen."  The  young  stranger, 
unknown  to  Dr.  Willson,  arrived  with  his  wife  late  on 
Saturday  evening,  and  the  next  morning  took  his  seat 
in  the  gallery  of  the  church.  His  assent  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  preacher  was  so  hearty,  and  his  delight  in 
his  sermon  so  great,  that  he  kept  unconsciously  nod- 
ding assent.  The  gesture  was  misinterpreted  by  the 
clergyman,  who  at  last,  after  a  particularly  clear  state- 
ment, brought  down  his  hand  in  a  thunderous  gesture, 
and  exclaimed,  "  And  this  is  the  truth,  the  dissenting 
stranger  in  the  gallery  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding !  " 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  subsequent  acquaintance 
was  agreeable  to  both,  and  ripened  into  intimate  friend- 
ship. In  about  a  year  the  license  to  preach  was  issued 
by  the  New-York  Presbytery;  and  the  candidate  was, 
according  to  custom,  sent  to  try  his  powers  in  the  vacant 
pulpits  of  his  church.  In  a  short  time  three  calls  were 
simultaneously  being  made  out  for  him,  one  from  Tops- 
ham  in  Vermont,  one  from  White  Lake  in  New  York, 
and   one  from   Galway  in  the  same  State.     Following 


32  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

the  advice  of  Dr.  Willson,  he  accepted  the  first  one  to 
reach  him,  —  that  from  Topsham,  Orange  Comity,  Vt. ; 
and  thither  his  wife's  family  soon  followed  from  Ireland. 

He  was  pastor  during  his  life  of  three  congregations, 
—  that  of  Topsham  from  1819  to  1829 ;  second,  that  of 
Greenfield  and  Londonderry,  O.,  from  1830  to  1838  ; 
third,  that  of  Elkhorn,  Washington  Comity,  111.,  from 
1840  to  about  1860.  He  died  at  his  home,  Warriston 
Farm,  near  the  latter  place,  in  1863,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven,  one  year  after  the  death  of  his  wife.  He 
had  been  for  some  time  feeble,  but  had  no  disease.  He 
had  been  reading  the  newspapers,  in  which  he  was  always 
interested,  and  chatting  until  his  common  hour  of  retire- 
ment. The  next  morning  he  did  not  appear  as  usual  at 
breakfast ;  and  when,  after  a  little  delay,  his  oldest  son 
and  his  daughter-in-law,  who  made  their  home  with  him 
after  his  wife's  death,  went  to  his  room,  they  found 
him  lying  in  a  perfectly  natural  position,  the  body  still 
warm,  but  life  extinct.  His  countenance  was  tranquil, 
and  gave  no  evidence  of  distress  or  suffering  of  any 
kind.  His  friends  and  neighbors  crowded  to  honor  his 
memory.  All  esteemed  him  as  an  honest,  upright, 
kindly  man ;  and  the  pious  knew  him  as  one  who  had, 
Enoch-like,  walked  with  God. 

There  were  born  to  William  and  Mary  Sloane  nine 
children,  —  John,  Mary,  James  Renwick  Willson,  Eliza, 
Robert,  Wylie,  Susannah,  Margaret,  and  Henderson. 
The  eldest  still  survives,  and  has  children  and  grand- 
children. The  rest  are  gone.  Mary  married  Mr. 
McClurken,  and  had  two  sons  ;  but  the  family  is  extinct. 
The  Others,  all  except  the  third,  died  unmarried;  Hen- 
derson, the  youngest,  of  an  illness  contracted  while  serv- 


ANCESTRY  AND  PARENTAGE.  33 

ing  in  the  army  during  the  civil  war.  Alary  was  the 
close  companion  and  intimate  friend  of  her  next  younger 
brother.  She  was  much  more  to  him  than  an  ordinary 
sister ;  the  attachment  between  them  was  deep  and 
strong ;  and  it  was  to  her,  next  to  his  mother,  that  in 
early  youth  he  was  indebted  more  than  any  other  for 
counsel  and  encouragement.  She  inherited  her  father's 
memory,  and  was  a  wide  and  discriminating  reader. 
Eliza  was  remembered  by  her  brother  as  a  modest, 
shrinking  girl  of  great  beauty,  who,  in  a  country  region 
like  that  of  Southern  Illinois  in  those  days,  was  a  rose 
in  the  wilderness.  Susannah  was  laughingly  called  the 
•■  Pro-re-nata."  Her  father  was  absent  in  Philadelphia  at 
the  time  of  her  birth,  attending  the  meeting  of  the  synod 
at  which  the  unfortunate  disruption  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  took  place.  The  "  old-side  "  were 
called  by  that  name  because  they  vindicated  the  action 
of  a  certain  Pro-re-nata  meeting  of  their  synod.  Robert 
was  a  successful  business-man  of  St.  Louis  during  his 
short  life  of  thirty  years.  Wylie  died  in  infancy.  Mar- 
garet was  the  wit  and  mimic  of  the  household.  Hender- 
son was  a  cool  and  courageous  soldier,  fighting  bravely 
in  the  few  actions  in  which  he  took  part,  and  was  much 
esteemed  for  his  steadfastness  by  his  company-  Of  the 
life-long  relations  of  brotherly  respect  and  affection  be- 
tween John  and  his  younger  brother,  it  is  needless  to 
speak.  The  former  has  been  fearless  in  the  defence  of 
his  principles,  an  able  advocate  of  his  convictions,  cour- 
ageous and  self-sacrificing  in  his  life.  lie  spends  an 
honored  old  age  on  the  family  homestead  of  Warriston. 
These  family-records  arc,  of  course,  most  interesting 
to  those  whom  they  concern.     Nevertheless,  while  it  is 


34  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

possible  to  over-estimate  the  influence  of  heredity  on 
character,  it  is  certain  that  a  knowledge  of  the  facts 
thus  briefly  given  was  a  powerful  educating  instrument 
in  the  life  we  are  to  follow  for  a  short  time.  The  family 
was  one  of  Covenanters  and  patriots.  Their  home  was 
marked  in  a  high  degree  by  genial  and  unrestricted 
intercourse,  by  refinement  of  manners,  and,  above  all, 
by  piety.  The  head  of  the  household  was  a  man  of 
strong  character  and  convictions,  equipped  with  an  edu- 
cation far  superior  to  that  of  the  times  and  circumstances 
in  which  he  lived,  with  an  active  interest  in  polite  learn- 
ing, intensely  occupied  with  politics  and  affairs  of  state 
in  America  and  Europe,  passionately  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  religious  and  political  liberty,  and,  above  all, 
profoundly  convinced  of  the  truths  of  Christianity  by 
intellectual  conviction  and  spiritual  experience. 

Such  a  family  would  have  been  a  marked  one  at  any 
time  and  in  any  community ;  but,  owing  to  the  peculiar 
circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed  as  pioneers, 
their  situation  was  even  more  striking.  According  to 
the  law  of  Vermont,  a  section  of  wild  land  was  given 
to  the  first-settled  minister  in  each  township.  This  was 
assigned  to  Mr.  Sloane  on  his  settlement  in  Topsham, 
and  from  the  proceeds  of  its  sale  he  purchased  a  com- 
fortable and  well-tilled  farm  with  good  buildings.  Later 
in  Ohio,  and  still  later  and  to  a  higher  degree  in  Illinois, 
similar  experiences  show  the  isolated  position  of  the 
family  with  regard  to  the  intercourse  of  equals  in  edu- 
cation and  taste.  In  Vermont  the  nearest  family  of 
intimate  friends  was  that  of  the  Hev.  James  Milligan 
of  Ryegate  in  Caledonia,  the  neighboring  county.  So 
close  were  the  bonds  of  that  connection,  that  it  lasted 


ANCESTRY  AND  PARENTAGE.  35 

throughout  life,  was  cemented  by  intermarriage,  and 
continued  in  the  closest  intimacy  of  sympathy  and  fellow- 
ship in  labor  to  the  end  of  the  second  generation.  They 
visited  each  other  often ;  and  the  intercourse  between 
minds  so  opposite  in  quality  to  each  other,  but  yet  so 
united  in  the  bonds  of  common  interests  and  equal 
attainments,  was  refreshing  to  both.  In  the  family  wor- 
ship of  those  visits,  the  two  clergymen  translated  the 
Scriptures,  reading  each  a  verse  in  turn,  from  the  origi- 
nal tongues,  from  the  Hebrew  at  night,  and  from  the 
Greek  in  the  morning.  These  facts  are  given  simply 
to  show  how  trying  the  position  of  such  pioneer  families 
was.  While  lifting  the  community  about  them,  they 
had  to  beware  of  falling  below  their  wonted  level  in 
conduct  and  ideas.  Their  relations  to  government  were 
scarcely  comprehensible  to  their  neighbors  at  times,  and 
in  periods  of  excitement  often  subjected  them  to  mis- 
conception and  to  obloquy. 

The  plain  living  and  high  thinking  of  the  Sloanc 
family  were,  in  many  respects,  the  most  important  pail 
of  my  father's  education.  They  developed  in  him  quali- 
ties of  independence  in  thinking  and  acting,  a  noble 
disregard  for  mere  public  tattle,  and  strong  intellectual 
courage.  They  tended  also  to  unfold  the  ideal  side  of 
his  mind,  and  to  fix  in  him  the  purpose  of  living  for 
principle,  even  when  allured,  as  he  often  was,  by  the 
most  tempting  offers  to  step  aside  from  that  course. 
The  necessity  for  understanding  and  explaining  the 
peculiar  attitude  of  his  family  and  people  in  earliest 
youth  implanted  in  him  the  historical  consciousness 
which  marks  the  true  value  of  continuity,  of  faith  and 
perseverance,  and  enables  high-minded  men  to  live  for 


36  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

the  things  of  the  spirit  rather  than  for  those  of  the  body. 
The  isolation  of  those  Covenanter  communities  in  which 
his  youth  was  spent,  had,  moreover,  another  most  valu- 
able effect,  —  the  cultivation  of  a  spirit  of  moderation 
and  proportion  in  conviction,  and  of  charity  toward  all 
men.  This  was  throughout  his  life  a  characteristic  trait, 
due,  of  course,  in  great  measure,  to  his  humane  and 
catholic  sympathies,  but,  in  part,  to  the  cause  just 
mentioned. 

Through  the  example  and  influence  of  his  father,  he 
kept  in  his  reading  the  company  of  all  that  was  best  and 
purest  in  the  human  life  of  the  ages.  His  chosen 
associates  in  hours  of  study  and  leisure,  through  child- 
hood and  youth,  were  poets,  sages,  and  philosophers. 
To  his  latest  hour  the  favorite  quotations  of  his  father 
were  on  his  lips,  and  he  ever  found  his  purest  delight 
in  the  expression  of  some  favorite  idea  by  the  apt  and 
adequate  language  of  those  who  had  made  it  their  own 
by  giving  it  the  fittest  garb.  Add  to  this  the  abundant 
and  wholesome  outdoor  life  on  the  green  hills  of  Ver- 
mont, the  fertile  slopes  of  Central  Ohio,  and  the  limitless, 
ocean-like  prairies  of  Illinois,  and  there  will  be  found 
the  key  to  his  intimate  and  affectionate  intercourse  with 
nature  throughout  his  life,  to  the  mutual  interchange  of 
relations  between  mind  and  nature  in  the  language 
of  his  sermons,  speeches,  and  conversation,  to  the  rich 
imagery  which  he  drew  from  the  beautiful  world,  to  his 
familiarity  with  all  things  animate  and  inanimate,  and 
the  keen  delight  he  found  in  the  fireside  travels  in  his 
library,  almost  as  much  as  in  the  reality  of  home  and 
foreign  journeyings.  The  modest  flower,  the  song  of 
the  birds,  the  fulness  of  common  nature,  the  grandeur 


ANCESTRY  AND  PARENTAGE.  37 

of  the  Alps,  the  sublimity  of  the  ocean,  —  all  had  their 
appropriate  value  in  his  scheme  of  life,  their  wealth  of 
literary  illustration  in  his  mind,  their  due  proportion  in 
their  relation  to  man,  and  their  value  in  leading  him  to 
confess  and  adore  his  and  their  Creator.  And  of  all  this 
the  germs  are  directly  traceable,  primarily,  of  course, 
to  native  gifts ;  but  in  large  part,  though  secondarily,  to 
early  training,  and  the  environment  of  his  life  before 
leaving  his  father's  house  for  college,  and  the  forming 
of  his  own  career. 


461499 


III. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.  —  CHILDHOOD. 

I  was  born  in  the  village  and  town  of  Topsham, 
Orange  County,  Vt.,  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  May, 
1823.  The  place  is  romantic,  being  situated  on  the 
bank  of  one  of  those  large,  clear  streams  for  which  New 
England  is  so  famous,  a  branch  of  Wait's  River,  and  sur- 
rounded by  great  hills.  From  almost  any  one  of  these  a 
large  portion  of  the  White-Mountain  range  was  visible, 
and  especially  in  a  clear  atmosphere  Moose-Hillock 
(Moosilauke)  appeared  to  be  but  a  few  miles  distant. 
As  the  family  left  Vermont  in  November,  1829,  my  life 
in  that  region  was  that  of  a  child.  I  remember  my 
grandmother  McNiece  distinctly,  and  especially  the  in- 
cidents of  her  funeral,  in  June,  1827.  I  cannot  fix  any 
dates  previous  to  this  with  an  absolute  certainty.  My 
father  removed  when  I  was  a  mere  infant  to  a  farm 
about  one  mile  distant.  From  a  field  above  the  house 
the  New-Hampshire  mountains  were  in  full  view  ;  and 
I  remember  being  impressed  with  their  appearance,  — 
white  and  glistening  with  snow,  while  all  was  still  green 
about  us. 

I  began  attendance  at  the  village  school  at  a  very 
early  period,  not  later,  at  all  events,  than  my  fifth 
summer,  and  recall  many  incidents  connected  with  our 

88 


CHILDHOOD.  39 

journeys  to  and  fro  in  company  with  my  sister  Mary  and 
the  children  of  neighbors.  Many  of  these  reminiscences 
are  pleasant ;  while  some  of  them  only  illustrate  the 
wise  man's  saying,  that  folly  is  bound  up  in  the  heart 
of  a  child.  The  teacher  was  Persis  Wilson,  a  bright, 
rosy-cheeked,  high-strung  Yankee  girl.  Dear  soul !  she 
was  living  until  within  a  few  years,  as  I  then  heard,  hi 
Massachusetts,  married  and  comfortable.  As  a  specimen 
of  certain  notions  of  education,  I  was  compelled  to 
study  a  small  edition  of  Murray's  Grammar.  I  had  not 
the  slightest  idea  of  what  it  meant,  and  my  detestation 
of  the  little  tormentor  was  in  proportion  to  my  igno- 
rance. I  was  incited  by  some  of  the  children  to  hide 
it  away  under  the  schoolhouse.  What  that  performance 
resulted  in,  I  have  no  remembrance.  Reading  was,  I 
think,  the  only  attainment  of  this  stage. 

The  remembrances  of  this  child-life  are  pleasant. 
I  recall  the  Thanksgivings,  and  especially  that  luxury  no 
longer  attainable,  the  "  spare-rib "  roasted  before  a 
blazing  wood-fire  ;  the  fields  in  their  season  red  with 
strawberries ;  and,  most  interesting  of  all,  the  streams 
abounding  in  trout,  and  the  brook-fishing.  I  only 
remember  capturing  two  of  the  beauties  alone  and 
independently.  I  would  like  to  paint  the  scene,  —  an 
evening  in  the  early  part  of  summer ;  the  brook  brawl- 
ing over  rocks  between  two  great  hills,  and  forming  a 
pool  where  it  turned  the  end  of  an  old  dam,  once  used, 
1  suppose,  for  washing  sheep.  The  hook  and  line  were 
my  own  and  new,  bought  in  the  village  that  day. 
Hastily  putting  on  a  bait,  I  made  a  cast;  one  of  the 
spotted  beauties  caught ;  immediately,  with  a  palpitating 
heart,  I  whipped  him  from  the  brook,   and  was  soon 


40  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

ready  for  another  throw.  And  lo  !  immediately  another 
was  landed.  A  great  clap  of  thunder  celebrated  my 
triumph,  and  heavy  drops  warned  me  that  I  must  make 
haste  to  cover :  so,  satisfied  that  I  could  now  do  it,  I 
made  for  home. 

Our  house  wTas  on  the  side  of  a  long  hill.  The 
winter  scenes  are  vividly  impressed,  Whittier's  "  Snow- 
bound "  being  an  exact  description  in  the  most  minute 
details  of  those  scenes  of  my  childhood.  Among  the 
sheep  in  the  barn  was  a  brown-faced  lamb,  a  pet,  that 
we  used  to  feed  with  crusts  of  bread.  "We  called  him 
"  Possbud,"  of  the  "  wide  derivatur  "  of  wThich  name  I 
confess  myself  profoundly  ignorant ;  but  it  was  a  rare 
pleasure  to  see  him  stamp  his  foot  when  we  held  back 
the  crust  for  a  little  to  tease  him.  My  travels  in  those 
days  extended  as  far  as  to  grandfather's  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  Four  Corners  on  the  other,  a  range  of 
a  little  more  than  three  miles.  On  the  road  to  grand- 
father's, two  dangers  had  to  be  encountered, — the  one 
real,  Dickerman's  dog,  which  once  threw  sister  Mary 
down,  and  inflicted  a  slight  wound  on  her  arm ;  the 
other  imaginary,  Cillcy's  geese !  Such  was  this  early 
child-life,  like  all  such,  a  mingled  scene  in  which  the 
lights  as  seen  from  this  distance  greatly  preponderate, 
if  light  can  preponderate. 

My  father  did  not  like  Vermont:  the  climate  was  too 
cold  ;  the  Yankee  character  was  not  altogether  to  his 
taste ;  the  salary  was  small,  and  in  one  instance,  at  least, 
I  remember  a  portion  was  literally  paid  in  "  beans  after 
harvest."  I  recall  a  goodly  pile  of  that  excellent  escu- 
lent lying  in  the  garret.  Yankee  beans  had  not  yet 
reached  the  dignity  of  a  legal  tender.      In  1829,  about 


CHILDHOOD.  41 

the  month  of  April,  he  sold  out  his  farm  and  heredita- 
ments, and  started  for  the  Far  West.  Before  long  he 
sent  word  for  the  family  to  follow  him  to  Allegheny 
City.  Owing  to  the  failure  of  the  man  who  bought  the 
farm  to  meet  his  engagements,  it  was  November  before 
we  were  ready  for  the  journey.  I  recall  my  elation 
at  the  idea  of  seeing  the  great  world,  and  how  all  at 
once  Vermont  dwindled  in  my  estimation  to  a  point. 
When  the  time  of  parting  came,  and  I  bade  good-by 
to  aunts  and  uncles  and  my  grandfather,  all  of  whom  I 
loved  very  much,  and  when  I  witnessed  their  grief  and 
my  mother's,  the  outlook  changed,  and  took  on  a  more 
sober  hue.  I  do  not  remember  that  I  again  felt  any 
special  elation  about  the  matter. 

Our  route  was  by  wagon  and  carriage  to  Burlington. 
Uncle  Robert,  mother's  second  brother,  drove  her  and 
the  smaller  children  in  a  Dearborn,  while  John  and  I 
rode  in  the  wagon  which  carried  the  large  boxes  ;  Mr. 
Taplin,  a  near  neighbor  and  good,  clever  man,  being 
teamster.  The  weather  was  mild  for  the  season,  and 
two  days  brought  us  to  Burlington.  There  I  was 
greatly  impressed  with  Lake  Champlain,  to  my  eye 
a  vast  body  of  water,  and  somewhat  forbidding  in  its 
aspect  from  black  November  clouds  which  hung  low 
upon  it.  I  remember  feeling  considerable  alarm  as 
the  little  steamer  that  was  to  carry  us  to  Whitehall 
came  puffing  up  to  the  wharf  in  the  darkness;  but,  hold- 
ing my  mother  by  the  hand,  I  stepped  heroically  aboard. 
A  certain  important  travelling-sack,  made  of  tanned 
leather,  and  covered  with  green  baize,  was  missing.  In 
a  few  moments  uncle,  who  was  a  remarkably  spry  man, 
opened  the  cabin-door,  flung  it  in,  and  with  a  hearty 


42  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

good-by  vanished  into  the  darkness.  Then  poor  mother 
gathered  us  round  her  knees,  and  for  a  little  tears  fell 
thick  and  fast ;  and  this,  so  far  as  I  remember,  was  the 
end  of  sorrows  for  the  journey. 

The  next  morning  we  landed  at  Whitehall,  and  from 
that  place  to  Albany  we  journeyed  by  canal.  There 
we  remained  several  days  among  friends.  That  was 
my  first  experience  of  great  cities :  all  was  strange  and 
new  and  impressive.  The  immense  piles  of  apples, 
nuts,  and  candies  in  the  shop-windows,  of  course,  took 
my  fancy ;  and  1  suspect  that  my  innocent  greenness 
afforded  some  amusement  to  the  children  of  the  house. 
Our  host  was  a  Mr.  Strain,  the  friend  of  my  father. 
"While  there  we  were  joined  by  uncle  John  McNiece, 
mother's  eldest  brother,  who  was  to  go  with  us  the 
rest  of  the  journey.  He  was  a  good  man,  quiet,  sensi- 
ble, blunt,  and  honest.  I  never  felt  that  his  relatives 
appreciated  him  at  his  full  worth.  Our  route  from 
Albany  was,  of  course,  by  the  Erie  Canal.  The  packets 
that  went  at  "  full  trot,"  and  made  "  great  time,"  were 
all  taken  off  for  the  season :  ours  was  a  line-boat,  neat 
and  comfortable,  most  of  the  way  crowded.  When  we 
grew  tired  of  the  boat,  brother  John  and  I  played  horse 
on  the  tow-path :  the  passengers  frequently  went  ashore 
and  took  the  gleanings  of  the  orchards,  nemine  contradi- 
cente.  The  boat-hands  were  really  clever  fellows  ;  and 
there  was  one  in  particular,  whose  name  of  John  is 
still  remembered,  who  would  jump  up  on  a  bridge  as 
we  were  about  to  pass  under,  pick  me  up,  and  then 
jump  down  on  the  other  side  to  the  boat  again,  with 
me  in  his  arms,  as  it  passed  on.  That  boatman,  rough 
enough  no  doubt,  left  upon  my  mind  such  an  impression 


CHILDHOOD.  43 

of  goodness,  or  rather  good-heartedness,  as  I  have  re- 
ceived from  but  few  persons  during  my  earthly  sojourn. 
I  remember  the  names  of  Schenectady,  Utica,  Syracuse, 
and  Lockport ;  the  latter  mainly  on  account  of  its  inter- 
minable locks,  as  they  seemed  to  me.  Some  eight  days 
were  spent  between  Albany  and  Buffalo.  At  Buffalo 
we  embarked  on  the  lake  for  Erie.  A  dark  cloud  hum? 
over  the  lake  when  we  went  aboard  the  steamer,  a 
small  affair.  Soon  a  gale  arose,  and  we  were  all  pres- 
ently in  the  throes  of  sea-sickness.  The  storm  increased ; 
"  the  sea  wrought,  and  was  tempestuous ; "  the  little 
steamer  was  compelled  to  put  into  Dunkirk,  and  thus 
two  days  were  lost.  Erie  was  reached  at  length.  It 
was  then  a  mean-looking  place. 

Here  we  were  to  take  wagon  for  Pittsburg.  The 
first  arrangement  was  repeated,  —  wagon  and  carriage. 
The  driver  of  the  wagon  was  a  cross  old  Irishman. 
The  day  was  rainy,  the  road  muddy,  and  at  night  we 
had  made  fifteen  miles !  This  would  never  do.  A  coun- 
cil was  held.  It  was  determined  to  take  sta^e  to  Pitts- 
burg,  and  send  the  goods  by  some  sort  of  a  portage  to 
a  point  on  the  Allegheny  River,  thence  by  the  river 
to  the  city.  Next  morning  all  was  arranged,  and  a  fine 
Troy  coach  drove  up  to  the  hotel.  I  think  the  name  of 
the  place  was  Waterford.  There  was  room  for  all. 
"  Smack  went  the  whip,  round  went  the  wheels,  were 
never  folks  so  glad,"  and  ho !  for  father  and  Pittsburg. 
AYe  rode  day  and  night,  much  of  the  way  through  un- 
broken forests.  The  fare  at  the  stage-houses  was  good, 
venison  of  the  most  delicious  kind  in  abundance,  hunger 
doubtless  the  best  sauce.  On  the  night,  I  believe,  of  the 
third  day,  I  was   awakened    out   of  a   sound   sleep    by 


44  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

uncle,  whose  knee  was  often  both  bed  and  pillow.  The 
horses'  hoofs  sound  strangely.  We  are  crossing  the  old 
Allegheny  bridge.  In  a  few  moments  father  is  with 
us.  What  more  1  Who  can  tell  ?  Not  a  child  of  seven 
years,  who  had  been  riding  three  days,  and  as  many 
nights,  through  Pennsylvania  forests  more  than  fifty 
years  ago. 

Next  morning  we  lay  long  in  bed,  and  rejoiced  to 
hear  that  we  had  not  to  ride  to-day,  nor  again.  We 
found  our  home  on  North  Avenue  near  Federal  Street, 
in  a  neat  little  story-and-a-half  frame-house,  in  what 
long  went  by  the  name  of  Howry's  Row.  Pittsburg  at 
that  time  had  sixteen  thousand  inhabitants.  Allegheny 
consisted  of  the  Common,  now  the  Park,  and  a  scattered 
house  here  and  there.  Father  itinerated  that  winter  in 
the  region  round  about,  lie  rode  a  little  prancing  roan 
mare,  that  went  sometimes  one  end  foremost,  sometimes 
the  other  end,  sometimes  one  side  foremost,  some- 
times the  other.  I  remember  him  as  he  returned  from 
these  preaching-tours,  covered  with  mud  from  head  to 
foot.  The  following  spring  he  received  a  call  from  a  con- 
gregation, one-half  of  which  was  in  Harrison,  and  one- 
half  in  Guernsey  County,  O.  Oar  sojourn  in  Allegheny 
was  about  nine  months.  We  left  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
1830.  I  recall  many  incidents  of  it,  but  none  worth 
repetition.  We  attended  Dr.  Black's  church,  and  made 
the  acquaintance  of  his  family,  with  some  members  of 
which  I  have  had  intercourse  at  intervals  ever  since. 
The  tones  of  the  people  sounded  strangely  to  our  cars, 
and  I  still  consider  the  twang  of  the  neighborhood  some- 
what unpleasant.  Of  course,  our  Yankeeisms  were  a 
source  of  constant  amusement  to  them. 


CHILDHOOD.  4.") 

Our  home  in  Ohio  was  in  Harrison  County,  near  the 
present  Green  Village,  the  site  for  many  years  of  a  flour- 
ishing State  normal  school,  seven  miles  from  the  town 
of  Cadiz,  and  about  eighteen  from  Steubenville.  The 
country  is  hilly,  rich,  fertile,  healthy.  The  people  in 
those  days  were  sociable,  industrious,  and  religious.  We 
lived  upon  a  farm  of  sixty  acres,  thirty  of  it  cleared,  and 
divided  into  small  fields,  in  each  of  which,  with  perhaps 
one  exception,  there  was  a  spring  of  water.  It  stood 
apart  from  public  highways,  only  a  neighborhood  road 
running  through  it,  and  was  surrounded,  except  for  a 
short  distance  on  one  side,  by  woods.  Before  moving  to 
it,  we  spent  our  first  year  in  the  house  of  a  member  of 
my  father's  congregation,  where  my  fourth  brother  was 
born.  In  that  retired  home  were  spent  seven  of  the 
happiest  years  of  my  life.  I  loved  the  neighbors,  the 
country,  and  the  farm-life.  The  chickens,  the  ducks, 
the  geese,  the  horses,  the  cattle,  the  sheep,  the  little 
fat  china-pigs,  and  the  guinea-hens,  were  all  objects  of 
interest,  and  a  source  of  enjoyment. 

The  children  of  the  neighborhood,  and  in  particular 
those  in  a  large  family  named  Crouch,  were  moral,  inno- 
cent, and  merry.  Each  season  brought  its  pleasures, — 
the  spring  the  melting  snows,  the  running  brooks,  the 
making  of  maple-sirup,  the  young  lambs,  the  calves, 
the  eggs.  I've  gathered  as  many  as  a  hundred  in  a  sin- 
gle day ;  and  what  we  could  not  use,  we  sold,  or  gave 
away.  I  took  great  delight  in  outwitting  the  silly  geese, 
by  discovering  their  eggs  concealed  behind  some  log,  or 
wall  of  rock,  and  carefully  covered  with  small  twigs  and 
leaves.  As  the  season  advanced,  the  coming  of  the  birds 
of  the  region  was  full  of  interest :  Robin  Redbreast,  — 


46  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

he  may  not  be  the  genuine  robin,  but  he  is  a  robin,  and 
I  do  not  like  to  hear  him  maligned ;  the  beautiful  blue- 
birds, the  brown  thrush,  and  all  the  familiar  feathered 
friends.  Then,  I  recall  the  woods  becoming  white  in 
some  places  with  the  service,  or  June  berry;  the  orchards 
with  all  varieties  of  plums,  before  the  days  of  the  de- 
structive curculio  ;  the  peaches,  pears,  and  apples.  Sum- 
mer, the  hot  summer !  I  did  not  know  it  was  hot. 
Some  days,  of  course,  we  felt  to  be  so  ;  but  all  things 
went  on  as  usual.  No  talk  in  our  home  of  resorts,  — 
mountain  or  seaside.  A  drink  of  the  coldest  water 
from  a  spring  gushing  out  of  the  living  rock,  — 

"Intus  aquse  dulces  vivoque  sedilia  saxo 
ISympharum  domus,"  — 

and  repose  under  the  shadow  of  a  great  maple  or  oak, 
soon  banished  weariness.  But  why  delay?  Autumn 
brought  its  ripened  fruits.  The  woods  abounded  in  the 
wild  grapes,  that  were  delicious  after  the  first  sharp 
frost.  Chestnuts,  hickory-nuts,  in  profusion.  You  may 
imagine  the  delight  of  a  little  rustic  going  to  the  woods 
with  his  sack  over  his  shoulder,  and  returning  stagger- 
ing under  the  load  that  he  had  secured.  Then  there 
were  "  apple-parings,"  and  "  apple-butter  boilings,"  and 
"  log-rollings,"  and  ';  scutchings,"  and  "  quiltings,"  and 
all  kinds  of  "  frolics,"  as  they  were  called,  combining 
with  frugal  consideration  the  useful  with  the  sweet. 
The  winter  brought  its  "  singings,"  usually  two  or  three 
a  week,  which,  you  will  see,  accounts  for  my  skill  in 
in u sic1  I  have  to  confess  that  the  interest  of  the  little 
chaps  of  my  age  consisted  largely  in  keeping  a  sharp 

1  Dr.  Sloane  was  notoriously  unskilled  in  music,  for  which  he  had  no  ear. 


CHILDHOOD.  47 

lookout  as  to  who  went  homo  with  whom,  who  got  the 
;;  sack,"  or  "  mitten,"  as  it  was  indifferently  called. 

During  this  period  I  attended  such  schools  as  were 
accessible  during  the  winter,  making  a  little  progress  in 
the  three  R's.  Father  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of 
the  theological  students  of  the  Pittsburg  Presbytery, 
and  had  for  a  short  time  a  select  school,  in  which  I  pro- 
gressed far  enough  in  Latin  to  read  a  little  in  "  I  liste- 
ria Sacra."  In  the  spring  of  1835  I  began  work  on  the 
farm,  and  during  the  spring  and  summer  had  to  carry 
on  what  a  boy  was  able  to  perform.  I  am  a  little  proud 
to  this  day  to  remember  that  I  drove  my  team  a-field, 
and  held  the  plough  for  several  successive  days  in  the 
autumn  of  my  eleventh  year.  In  the  winter  I  went 
again  to  the  district  school.  These  schools  were  of  a 
primitive  character.  Each  winter,  in  fact,  we  traversed 
about  the  same  ground,  the  end  of  each  school-term 
leaving  us  at  about  the  same  stage  which  we  had 
reached  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  one.  There  was 
much  of  rude  fun  at  intermission,  and  when  going  and 
returning,  but  no  immorality,  no  swearing,  not  even  any 
vulgarity.  A  "  treat "  was  always  expected  from  the 
master  at  Christmas ;  and,  if  he  did  not  give  it  volunta- 
rily, the  larger  boys  barred  him  out  until  he  came  to 
terms.  This  operation  they  performed  by  going  to  the 
schoolhouse  in  turn  at  an  early  hour,  often  before  day- 
light, and  barricading  the  doors  within,  and  nailing 
down  the  windows.  Often  the  master  would  refuse  for 
a  week  or  two,  but  was  invariably  compelled  to  yield  in 
the  end.  The  "  treat "  consisted  of  apples,  cider,  ginger- 
bread, and  such  rural  dainties. 

We  were  often  visited  by  persons  from  the  outside 


48  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

world,  and  at  communion  seasons  our  house  was  crowded. 
I  remember  that  on  one  occasion  we  made  provision  for 
fourteen  horses  and  their  riders,  and  this  was  not  a 
solitary  instance  of  similar  hospitality.  During  our  resi- 
dence in  Ohio,  the  three  youngest  children  were  born. 
About  the  year  1837,  father  determined  to  sell  his  farm, 
and  go  West.  I  need  not  enter  into  the  detail  of  his 
reasons  for  such  a  move.  At  this  distance,  it  appears 
to  me  to  have  been  a  great  mistake.  It  was  determined 
to  go  to  Illinois.  So,  all  preparations  having  been  made, 
my  brother  John,  in  company  with  a  number  of  friends 
who  had  united  to  start  a  new  colony,  started,  taking 
with  him  all  that  was  necessary  to  commence  a  new  farm. 
They  located  in  Brown  County,  111.  John  purchased 
two  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  and  had  a  house 
and  barn  built.  But  the  whole  plan  came  to  naught,  and 
worse  than  naught,,  His  advisers  had  been  duped,  and 
he  had  bought  land  of  which  the  title  was  worthless ; 
and,  for  the  second  time,  the  family  resources  were 
hopelessly  involved.  During  the  suspense  incident 
upon  this  unlucky  project,  my  mother's  health  gave  way, 
and  made  it  impossible  to  think  of  the  Western  journey. 
In  the  autumn,  as  I  think,  of  1838,  we  removed  to  the 
town  of  Cadiz,  the  county  seat  of  Harrison  County, 
seven  miles  from  our  country  home.  Here  father  opened 
a  school,  in  which  I  was  his  assistant,  teaching  the 
young  children,  and  studying  Latin  and  mathematics. 
To  this  place  we  all  became  greatly  attached.  The 
society  was  unusually  good,  and  the  people  friendly. 
Stanton,  the  great  war-secretary,  lived  in  Cadiz  at  that 
time.  John  A.  Bingham's  relatives  were  there,  and 
Bishop   Simpson's   also  ;  though  both  these  men  them- 


CHILDHOOD.  49 

selves  had  left  a  short  time  before  our  sojourn  there. 
Ministers,  doctors,  lawyers,  county  officers,  and  the  like, 
formed  quite  an  intelligent  society.  My  sister  Mary 
attended  the  seminary,  then  under  the  charge  of  Miss 
Foster,  afterward  Mrs.  Ilanna  of  Washington,  Penn. 
Eliza,  the  next  younger  sister,  was  much  admired  for 
her  beauty  ;  and  I,  being  small  for  my  years,  acquired 
the  title  of  "  the  little  master." 

Here  I  first  became  a  member  of  a  literary  society. 
It  consisted  of  the  following  members :  Joseph  Tingley, 
the  eldest  of  us  all,  and  his  brother  Jeremiah,  cousins  of 
Bishop  Simpson.  These  brothers  both  became  profess- 
ors of  science,  —  Joseph  in  Asbury  University,  Ind.,  and 
Jeremiah  in  Meadville  College.  I  recently  saw  a  very 
pretty  article  by  him  in  "  The  Chautauquan,"  —  "With 
Agassiz  at  Pennekese."  William  Shotwell  graduated 
with  the  highest  honor  in  Miami  University,  studied 
law,  and  died  soon  after  of  consumption,  in  the  second 
year,  I  think,  after  entering  on  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession. Hans  Lee  and  Thomas  Hanna,  both  earning 
the  honors  of  debate  in  Franklin  College,  studied  theol- 
ogy, and  died  in  early  life.  Lee  was  a  most  brilliant 
fellow,  and  Ilanna  was  noted  for  his  goodness.  John 
Bancroft  was  the  solid  reasoner  of  the  society,  and  is 
now  one  of  the  first  lawyers  in  Iowa.  There  were  one 
or  two  others  introduced  into  the  circle  from  time  to 
time ;  but  I  have  forgotten  their  names,  and  know  noth- 
ing of  them.  Those  I  have  enumerated  were  about  my 
age,  and  constituted  the  framework  of  the  society. 

In  September  of  1839  father  determined  to  carry  out 
his  purpose  of  going  West,  and  started  for  Illinois. 
Under  the  favoring  auspices  of  some  good  men  of  the 


50  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

town,  I  formed  a  school  of  my  own.  It  was  limited  in 
numbers  to  sixteen,  and  in  age  to  fourteen.  This  was 
my  employment  for  the  winter,  and  the  return  was  a 
handsome  one.  We  learned  that  father  had  received  a 
call  to  Elkhorn  congregation.  He  accepted  it,  and  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  days  in  its  service. 

The  winter  of  1839—40  was  characterized  by  the  wild- 
est political  excitement.  Martin  Van  Buren  and  Gene- 
ral Harrison  were  the  opposing  Presidential  candidates. 
Meetings  were  constantly  held.  Thousands  could  be 
gathered  at  almost  any  time.  Orations  were  as  plenty  as 
blackberries.  The  Whigs,  of  course,  followed  the  Har- 
rison standard.  He  was  the  hard-cider  candidate,  and  it 
flowed  like  water.  He  lived  in  a  log  cabin,  so  it  was 
said ;  and  wagons  supporting  log  cabins  were  a  feature 
of  almost  every  procession.  I  was,  of  course,  a  great 
politician,  shouted  myself  hoarse  for  Harrison,  and  at- 
tended all  the  meetings  accessible.  I  had  now  caught 
sight  of  the  great  world :  my  fate  was  sealed,  —  no  more 
enjoyment  of  rural  life.  A  college  education  was  now 
the  goal,  and  to  be  a  speaker  of  some  kind  was  my  aim. 

In  the  spring  of  1840  we  were  to  follow  father.  It 
was  with  regret  that  I  left  this  town  where  I  had  been, 
to  an  extent,  awakened  into  intellectual  life,  and  parted 
from  companions  to  whom  I  was  attached.  I  did  not 
see  the  end  of  this  departure  into  the  wilderness.  I 
was  nearing  seventeen  years  of  age,  was  small  for  my 
years  still,  and,  though  never  a  fop,  had  lost  most  of 
my  rusticity. 

Tins  was  the  close  of  the  first  stage  of  my  life.  All 
these  changes  were  made  by  father  for  the  advantage  of 
his  family.     "  Man  proposes,  but  God  disposes." 


IY. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.  — YOUTH  AND   EARLY 
MANHOOD. 

Our  destination  was  Washington  County,  111. ;  and,  as 
there  were  no  railways,  our  route  was  by  steamboat 
from  Steubenville  on  the  Ohio,  to  Chester  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  voyage  in  that  season  was  altogether 
delightful.  It  was  in  April,  and  the  river  was  in  a  fair 
stage  of  water,  the  peach-trees  were  in  full  bloom,  and 
the  forests  just  beginning  to  show  the  early  green. 
The  boat  was  handsomely  fitted,  the  state-rooms  were 
comfortable,  and  the  table  all  that  could  be  desired. 
The  passengers  were  a  strange  variety  from  all  lands, 
and  those  in  the  cabin,  for  the  most  part,  refined  and 
intelligent.  Our  boat,  the  "  Susquehanna,"  was  one  of 
the  best  on  the  Upper  Ohio :  we  exchanged,  however, 
for  a  still  better  one  at  Cincinnati,  the  "Monsoon," 
which  plied  between  that  city  and  St.  Louis.  We 
reached  our  destination  in  due  time,  thankful  that  our 
boat,  as  too  frequently  happened  in  those  days,  had  not 
been  blown  up  by  an  explosion  of  its  boilers.  From 
Chester  to  Elkhorn  was  a  day's  drive.  We  were  much 
attracted  by  the  novelty  of  the  scenes  through  which 
we  passed.  Throughout  the  woods,  or  forests  rather, 
were  scattered  open  glades  ;  they  were  green  with  the 

51 


52  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

verdure   of  early  spring:   and  already  we  observed  a 
great  variety  of,  to  us,  new  and  brilliant  flowers. 

Our  future  home  was  among  a  large  congregation, 
the  nucleus  of  which  was  formed  by  the  richer  portion, 
who  had  left  South  Carolina  some  twenty  or  thirty 
years  before  on  account  of  slavery.  Then  there  was  a 
large  number  who  had  come  from  Ireland,  many  of 
them  having  remained  in  Philadelphia  or  New  York 
long  enough  to  earn  a  sum  of  money  sufficient  to  buy 
a  farm.  To  these  were  added  a  few  people  from  Ohio, 
and  other  parts  of  the  country.  The  church  was  a 
huge  brick  structure,  roofed  and  floored.  It  was  partly 
seated  with  benches  that  had  backs,  and  partly  with 
benches  that  had  no  backs.  As  it  had  been  planned 
with  reference  to  indefinite  growth  in  the  future,  a 
large  portion  had  no  seats  at  all.  In  this  "  hiatus  valde 
deflendus"  you  might  see  quilts  spread  on  a  summer's 
day,  and  each  mother  keeping  watch  over  her  own  with 
a  branch  from  a  neighboring  tree  so  that  the  little  one 
might  sleep  undisturbed  by  the  flies  or  —  the  preaching. 
In  this  house  my  father  preached  for  twenty  years  in 
the  decline  of  his  life,  sermons  that  could  not  lay  claim 
to  the  graces  of  eloquence,  but  which  Avould  have  been 
admired  anywhere  for  their  originality  and  profundity. 
That  I  may  here,  as  Jeremy  Taylor  says,  mingle  a 
sprig  of  myrrh,  —  in  that  churchyard  lie  father,  mother, 
three  brothers,  and  three  sisters,  near  a  simple  shaft  of 
marble  on  which  their  names  are  inscribed.  In  course 
of  time,  the  church  was  much  improved,  then  sold  to  a 
congregation  of  United  Presbyterians.  Another  build- 
ing, of  better  appearance,  was  then  built,  nearer  to  that 
which  had  become  the  old  homestead.     The  people,  as 


YOUTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  53 

a  whole,  presented  a  good  and  respectable  appearance. 
As  horseback  was  the  only  conveyance,  it  was  a  sight 
to  see  them  leave  the  church  on  a  sabbath  evening, 
especially  when  the  young  horses,  restive  with  a  long 
day's  standing,  had  to  be  let  out  to  keep  them  from 
worse  antics,  or  from  throwing  their  riders. 

It  was  immediately  manifest,  that,  while  the  father 
was  attending  to  his  church  duties,  the  children  must 
find  work,  each  "  maun  tak  an  oar."  Mary  at  once 
began  to  teach,  and  Benwick  and  Robert  must  go  to 
the  plough.  The  people  were  kind,  but,  being  early 
settlers,  had  little  ready  money ;  while  those  who  had 
accumulated,  had  a  very  faint  idea,  indeed,  of  what 
was  due  to  those  who  were  over  them  in  the  Lord. 
My  father's  salary  was  three  hundred  dollars.  But  do 
not  be  hasty  in  estimating  its  value.  The  best  land 
could  be  bought  for  four  dollars  an  acre  ;  a  good  three- 
year-old  ox,  rolling  in  fat,  was  sold  for  ten  dollars, 
and  an  excellent  cow  for  twelve ;  corn  could  be  had 
in  any  quantity  for  twenty  cents  a  bushel.  The  prices 
served  to  equalize  somewhat.  The  greater  part  of  my 
four  years  in  Illinois  was  spent  in  putting  a  new  farm 
into  such  shape  that  I  could  get  off  to  college.  So  I 
split  rails,  and  hauled  them,  built  fences,  broke  the 
new  prairie,  and  planted  all  kinds  of  fruit-trees.  The 
farm  was  a  good  one  ;  it  was  fertile  to  a  degree  ;  "  tickle 
it  with  a  hoe,  it  would  laugh  with  a  harvest."  As  I 
drove  my  oxen  to  the  woods  some  two  or  three  miles  dis- 
tant, or  followed  the  prairie-plough,  I  spouted  Webster's 
or  Clay's  or  Otis's  speeches,  and  declaimed  portions  of 
"The  Shipwreck,"  the  "  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  the  ':  Lord 
of  the  Isles,"  or  of  "  Comus,"  and  other  familiar  poetry. 


54  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

As  in  all  new  countries,  weddings  abounded :  these 
were  always  followed  by  an  infair,  and  then  there  was 
riding.  There  were  also  "  singings  "  and  "  quiltings," 
and  parties  of  various  kinds,  with  all  the  variety  of 
country-life.  I  did  not  fret  nor  repine  nor  despond, 
but  looked  hopefully  to  the  future.  My  sister  Mary 
was  married  in  1842  to  Samuel  McClurken,  an  excel- 
lent and  cultivated  man,  with  whom  she  lived  tenderly 
and  happily  till  his  death  in  1854. 

The  next  year  I  gave  up  my  duties  on  the  farm  to 
my  brother  John,  who  had  left  his  business  in  Steuben- 
ville,  and  took  the  town-school  in  Sparta,  a  thriving 
village  some  sixteen  miles  distant,  where  my  sister  and 
her  husband  lived.  They  occupied  the  house  of  Mr. 
McClurken's  widowed  sister,  and  I  boarded  with  them. 
Its  owner  had  been  a  man  of  refined  tastes,  and  had 
collected  an  excellent  library,  particularly  rich  in  history. 
The  winter  was  a  busy  one  for  our  little  family :  every 
evening  we  formed  a  circle  about  the  fire,  and  read 
literally  for  hours.  Circumstances,  of  course,  hindered 
us  at  times ;  but  we  accomplished  a  very  substantial 
course  of  reading.  There  was  in  the  town  at  least 
one  man  of  scholarly  instincts,  a  graduate  of  Oxford 
College  in  Ohio,  who  would  have  made  an  excellent 
professor,  but  had  stumbled  into  medicine,  and  was 
known  as  Dr.  Simpson.  I  had  gained  some  slight 
knowledge  of  botany  from  my  father.  Simpson  was 
an  enthusiast  in  that  line  ;  and  when  the  spring  opened, 
we  had  many  a  delightful  excursion  after  school-hours. 

College  was  now  looming  in  the  near  future.  So  in 
the  autumn  I  returned  home,  and  began  my  more 
minute  preparation.     There   were    two    boys    boarding 


YOUTH  AXD  EARLY  MANHOOD.  55 

at  my  father's  house,  and  studying  with  him.  Andrew 
C.  Todd  afterwards  went  with  me  to  college.  The 
other  had  high  family  connections,  but  little  intelligence. 
It  was  just  even  beam  in  which  class  you  would  put 
him.  lie  had  a  childish  wit,  however ;  and,  to  my 
astonishment,  father  took  a  liking  to  the  poor  fellow. 
He  bore  with  him  in  the  greatest  patience,  and  brought 
him  to  read  and  write  respectably.  How  far  he  pene- 
trated into  the  mysteries  of  figures  and  grammar,  I 
cannot  say.  My  own  attainments  were  not  of  the 
highest.  I  knew  "  little  Latin  and  less  Greek,"  but 
was  at  ease  in  algebra,  and  good  in  Euclid.  I  made 
the  best  use  I  could  of  the  winter;  and  it  was  settled 
that  I  was  to  go  to  Jefferson  College  at  Canonsburg, 
Penn.  That  institution  had  distended  a  large  angle  in 
my  horizon  while  in  Ohio :  it  was  the  oldest  west  of 
the  Alleghanies,  and,  as  supposed,  the  best. 

In  April  I  started  with  my  young  companion  for  the 
Elysium  of  my  dreams.  The  parting  from  the  dear 
ones  at  home  was  full  of  sadness,  especially  as  it  was 
uncertain  when  I  should  return.  There  were  no  rail- 
ways, of  course,  and  the  journey  was  long  and  expen- 
sive. My  brother  John  took  us  in  a  spring-wagon  to 
St.  Louis  :  and  I  beg  of  you  to  read  Dickens's  "  Notes  on 
America"  for  a  description  of  that  part  of  our  route 
which  lay  between  Belleville  and  St.  Louis  ;  it  is  scarcely 
a  caricature.  We  found  a  steamboat  just  starting  for 
Pittsburg  ;  but  as  we  had  allowed  ourselves  ample  time, 
and  had  a  few  days  to  spare,  wc  took  our  passage  only 
to  Steubenville.  The  boat  proved  to  be  slow,  but  the 
journey  was  diversified  by  all  the  incidents  of  river- 
travelling    in    those  days.     Gambling    prevailed   to   an 


56  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

awful  extent ;  and  on  one  occasion  our  captain,  who 
was,  what  was  an  unusual  thing  in  men  of  his  class, 
a  genuine  blackleg,  raked  (literally)  into  his  leather 
pouch  several  hundred  dollars  in  gold.  Hell  was  not 
far  from  those  gambling-tables.  The  players  drank 
and  swore,  and  threw  the  cards,  toward  the  winding- 
up  of  the  game,  with  such  violence  that  they  made 
their  knuckles  bleed. 

At  this  time  the  slaveholders  were  preparing  the 
United  States  for  the  great  Texas  robbery  which  after- 
wards culminated  in  the  Mexican  war,  as  infamous  a 
contest  as  one  nation  ever  waged  against  another. 
There  wTas,  of  course,  much  talk  on  the  boat  about 
Texan  affairs  ;  and  it  was  increased  by  the  presence  on 
board  of  a  messenger  bearing  despatches  from  Texas 
to  the  Government  at  Washington.  The  talk  culmi- 
nated in  a  debate  between  the .  Texan  politician  and  a 
young  lawyer  on  one  side,  and  a  young  physician  from 
Ohio  and  myself  on  the  other.  We  were  appointed  by 
the  authority  of  the  company.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that, 
on  the  third  round,  the  Texan  lost  his  temper,  and  thus 
ended  the  discussion,  to  the  great  amusement  of  the 
passengers. 

I  think  there  would  be  no  dissent  from  the  statement 
that  in  those  days  Jefferson  College  held  the  front  rank 
among  Western  colleges.  Dr.  Matthew  Brown  was  the 
president,  and  he  had  a  faculty  of  five  professors  and 
one  tutor.  I  entered  the  freshman  class  half  advanced, 
—  that  is,  at  the  middle  of  the  year,  —  and  was  but  im- 
perfectly prepared  for  the  grade.  I  managed  in  a  short 
time,  however,  to  so  far  overtake  the  others  as  to  main- 
tain a  respectable  rank.      The  marking  was    not  very 


YOUTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  57 

close,  and  the  class  duties  were  not  very  exacting.  Dr. 
Brown  was  a  strangely  eccentric  character ;  but  he  un- 
derstood students  wellf  and  had  managed  the  college 
successfully  for  twenty-five  years.  lie  was,  at  the  time 
of  my  entrance,  past  the  years  of  usefulness,  and  resigned 
at  the  close  of  my  first  year  in  favor  of  Dr.  It.  J.  Breck- 
inridge of  Baltimore.  The  professors  were  men  of  very 
modest  attainments.  The  only  one  for  whom  I  felt  and 
carried  away  affection  or  respect  was  Dr.  Alexander 
Brown,  the  son  of  the  president.  He  was  a  gentleman,  a 
good  classical  scholar,  and  a  most  amiable  man.  I  had, 
however,  no  prejudice  against  any  of  my  instructors, 
and  was,  as  far  as  I  know,  on  good  terms  with  them  all. 

The  great  event  of  my  college  life  was,  of  course,  the 
induction  into  the  presidential  chair  of  Dr.  Breckinridge. 
He  was  one  of  the  few  great  men  I  have  known,  and 
among  the  foremost  of  that  number.  He  retained  his 
office  but  two  years,  leaving  at  the  same  time  I  graduated. 
The  college  increased  rapidly  during  his  incumbency, 
reaching  the  number  of  four  hundred  students,  most  of 
whom  were,  as  in  all  colleges  of  the  time,  in  the  three 
higher  classes.  But  I  think  he  felt  the  place  too  strait 
for  him,  and  that  the  town  of  Canonsburg  was  not  suited 
to  him,  either  in  size,  or  in  the  character  of  its  inhabitants. 

The  years  I  spent  in  college  were,  on  the  whole,  very 
pleasant  ones.  Of  my  career,  there  is  little  to  be  said. 
I  took  a  somewhat  prominent  part  in  the  literary  soci- 
eties, and  was  finally  appointed  debater  of  the  Franklin 
Society  for  18-17,  when  I  was  a  senior.  This  was  con- 
sidered the  highest  honor  that  the  society  could  confer, 
and  one  of  the  chief  honors  of  the  college.  The  decision 
of  the  judges  in  the   contest  which  followed,  with   an 


58  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

opponent  from  the  rival  society,  was  given  to  me  by  a 
unanimous  vote.  Of  course  I  gained  such  eclat  as  that 
would  secure  among  students.  I  graduated  in  June  of 
the  same  year,  and  returned  home  immediately,  having 
been  absent  nearly  four  years. 

[This  meagre  account  of  his  college-life  is  all  that 
can  be  found  among  his  papers.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  account  corresponds  in  no  way  to  the  importance  of 
that  period  of  his  education.  The  college  was  not  only 
one  of  the  most  famous  in  the  West,  but  in  the  whole 
country.  It  was  easily  accessible  by  water  from  the 
entire  Mississippi  valley,  and  its  students  were  from  the 
ablest  and  most  influential  families  of  that  vast  district. 
The  atmosphere,  therefore,  was  one  of  elegance  and 
refinement ;  and  the  young  student  was  thrown  into 
close  association  with  a  body  of  youth  which  formed  a 
true  microcosm  of  the  life  of  his  day.  I  have  heard 
him  enumerate  in  a  remarkable  list,  too  long  to  publish, 
even  if  it  were  remembered,  the  positions  of  dignity 
and  importance  held  in  after-life  by  his  college-mates. 
That  he  should  have  been  the  first  scholar  in  his  class 
on  graduation,  and  the  foremost  man  in  the  literary 
life  of  such  a  college,  are  not  insignificant  facts.  More- 
over, he  felt,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  the  influence  of 
that  remarkable  man,  Robert  J.  Breckinridge.  For  two 
years  their  intercourse  was  as  constant  as  their  rela- 
tive position  would  permit,  and  the  favor  of  the  presi- 
dent was  shown  him  in  after-life  at  important  times. 
The  fiery  vigor  and  intellectual  onset  of  Dr.  Breckin- 
ridge left  a  deep  impression  on  the  minds  of  his  students  ; 
while  his  mind  was  so  acute,  and  his  sympathies  were  so 
catholic,  as  to  compel  attention  and  regard.  —  Ed.] 


YOUTH  AXD   EARLY  MANHOOD.  59 

During  the  summer  I  had  a  severe  attack  of  typhoid- 
fever,  from  which  I  recovered  with  no  evil  effects.  The 
disease  spread  to  other  members  of  the  family,  among 
them  my  sister  Eliza,  who  died,  deeply  mourned  and 
lamented.  The  autumn  found  me  in  Kentucky,  whither 
I  went  to  take  charge  of  the  school  near  Ilopkinsville, 
Christian  County,  belonging  to  a  clergyman  whose  name 
was  Jones.  The  vicissitudes  of  that  ill-starred  institu- 
tion would  fill  a  volume.  Mr.  Jones  sold  out  to  a  Mr. 
Johnston,  and  left  at  once  for  a  visit  to  Louisville. 
Straightway  a  slave-woman  of  Mr.  Johnston's  set  fire 
to  the  buildings,  which  were  burned  to  the  ground. 
This  resulted  in  the  breaking  up  of  the  school,  which 
was  largely  composed  of  boys  from  the  South.  Accord- 
ingly, I,  with  three  pupils,  was  sent  to  lodge  with  a 
neighbor,  "  Colonel "  Moore,  from  whom  we  received 
kind  treatment  during  the  winter.  During  this  period, 
having  considerable  leisure  and  favorable  opportunities, 
I  examined  into  the  nature  and  workings  of  slavery. 
The  result  was  a  settled  conviction  of  its  enormity  as 
a  sin  against  God,  and  an  outrage  upon  humanity.  It 
was  then  that  my  determination  was  settled  to  do  what 
little  I  could  against  it  by  word  and  deed.  I  only  mean, 
of  course,  that  opinions  I  had  held  all  my  life  were  con- 
firmed, and  my  future  course  determined.  The  half 
was  never  told  of  the  evil  of  the  system :  the  marvel 
is,  that  God's  judgments  were  so  long  delayed. 

Y\  ith  such  views,  I  could  not  conscientiously  remain 
where  the  system  prevailed  ;  and  learning  that  the  acad- 
emy at  Richmond,  Jefferson  County,  O..  was  without  a 
principal.  I  therefore  applied,  and  received  the  appoint- 
ment.    I   left   Kentucky   early  in   March,   1843.     The 


60  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

people  had  been  kind,  and  "  Colonel "  Moore  was  already 
exerting  himself  to  form  a  school  which  would  have 
been  large  and  profitable.  I  bade  good-by  with  feel- 
ings of  personal  kindness.  About  a  month  later  I 
entered  upon  my  work  in  Richmond.  The  position 
was  an  agreeable  one,  but  very  arduous.  The  diffi- 
culty arose  from  the  fact  that  they  called  the  institution 
a  college,  and,  with  but  two  teachers,  were  actually 
attempting  a  college  course.  My  predecessor  had  had 
recitations  in  Virgil,  Horace,  Juvenal,  Xenophon,  Thu- 
cydides,  Euripides,  etc.,  with  corresponding  classes  in 
mathematics.  There  were  boys  from  the  village  and 
neighborhood  who  could  not  afford  to  go  from  home ; 
and  was  not  the  name  of  college  as  good  in  one 
place  as  another?  and  as  to  what  the  college  is  at 
which  a  man  graduates,  who  would  care  to  inquire? 
The  able  and  studious  man  who  had  been  principal 
before  me  had  them  up  to  the  point  of  what  was  con- 
sidered a  full  college  course ;  and  it  would  not  do  for 
me  to  let  my  work  fall  below  his,  especially  as  I  was 
from  Jefferson,  and  he  from  Washington,  then  rival 
colleges,  but  since  united. 

So  my  assistant  took  charge  of  the  preparatory  depart- 
ment, and  I  of  the  college.  I  had  four  classes  a  day  in 
Latin,  as  many  in  Greek,  and  the  same  number  in  the 
higher  mathematics,  with  logic,  rhetoric,  and  a  slight 
touch  of  moral  and  mental  science  thrown  in.  It  is  a 
sober  reality,  I  taught  as  many  as  twelve  classes  in  the 
day.  But  I  liked  the  place  :  the  country  in  the  neighbor- 
hood was  lovely,  and  the  academy  flourished.  I  was  daily 
improving  my  own  scholarship.  The  people  were  moral, 
and  in  intelligence  above  the  average  in  country  places. 


YOUTH  AXD  EARLY  MANHOOD.  0] 

During  the  vacation,  in  October,  1849,  I  was  married 
to  Margaret  Anne  Wylie  Milligan,  at  the  house  of  her 
brother  McLeod,  near  New  Alexandria,  Westmoreland 
County,  Pcnn.  She  was  the  only  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
James  Milligan,  my  father's  friend  in  Vermont  and 
afterwards  in  Illinois.  The  marriage  was  in  all  re- 
spects a  happy  one. 

Feeling  that  I  had  spent  sufficient  time  in  teaching, 
and  that  I  should  commence  my  studies  preparatory  to 
the  ministry,  I  resigned  my  position  in  Richmond,  and 
determined  to  go  to  Northwood,  Logan  County,  O., 
the  site  of  Geneva  Hall,  an  institution  that  had  been 
founded  as  a  college  for  Covenanters  some  year  or 
two  previously.  The  Theological  Seminary  had  been 
located  in  the  same  place,  and  my  purpose  was  to 
study  theology.  I  left  Richmond  on  the  first  of  April, 
1851.  I  had  then  spent  three  years  of  hard  labor, 
which  was  both  profitable  and  pleasant ;  and  I  therefore 
parted  from  the  little  village  with  kindly  feelings. 
Moreover,  there  were  some  associations  of  a  tender  and 
specially  pleasant  nature  connected  with  it. 

Our  route  was  from  Steubenville  to  Cincinnati  by  boat, 
and  thence  by  railway  to  Belle  Centre,  near  Northwood. 
This  was  my  first  experience  of  railroad  travelling.  The 
road  between  Cincinnati  and  Xenia  was  very  good,  hav- 
ing been  recently  laid  with  T  rail,  which  was  spoken  of 
as  a  great  affair.  From  Xenia  to  Belle  Centre,  however, 
we  had  the  strap  rail,  —  a  flat  piece  of  iron  laid  upon  ties, 
or  sleepers,  running,  of  course,  longitudinally.  The  cars 
rocked  like  a  ship  in  a  storm,  and  all  but  the  most  ven- 
turesome kept  their  seats  while  they  were  in  motion. 
We  sped  along  at  the  rate  of  twelve,  and,  under  very 


62  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

favorable  circumstances,  fourteen  miles  an  hour.  It  was 
said  that  occasionally  an  end  of  one  of  the  straps,  becom- 
ing loose,  made  its  appearance,  penetrating  through  the 
bottom  of  the  car,  without  special  reference  to  the  com- 
fort of  the  passengers.  These  visitors  were  called  "  snake- 
heads  :  "  however,  we  did  not  make  their  acquaintance. 

At  Northwood  we  were  met  by  our  brothers,  John  and 
Saurin  Milligan,  and  other  old  acquaintances  and  friends, 
and  were  among  our  own  people,  the  Covenanters.  Sem- 
inary, however,  there  was  none.  Dr.  James  R.  Will- 
son,  for  whom  I  was  named,  had  grown  old  and  was  in 
failing  health,  and  never  again  acted  as  professor.  The 
students  who  remained,  or  had  returned  again  to  North- 
wood,  were  put  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  J.  B. 
Johnston,  a  man  of  talent,  who  had  studied  under  Dr. 
Black  of  Pittsburg,  and  under  my  father.  He  had  some 
knowledge  of  theology,  but  of  learning  he  was  nearly 
destitute :  what  little  he  had  once  had,  being  obliterated 
in  the  missionary-like  labors  of  the  frontier  life  he  had 
been  leading  for  many  years. 

I  did  something  myself  in  teaching  the  class  in  Turre- 
tin  and  in  Greek  ;  so  I  became,  from  the  necessity  of  the 
case,  a  kind  of  undcr-professor  in  theology.  The  post 
of  principal  of  the  college  falling  vacant  in  the  spring  of 
1852,  I  was  over-persuaded  to  accept  it,  and  was  duly 
inaugurated.  The  address  I  then  delivered  was  success- 
ful, and  may  be  said  to  have  marked  the  beginning  of 
my  career  as  a  public  speaker. 

About  the  same  time,  I  was  elected  to  deliver  the  an- 
niversary oration  before  the  literary  societies  at  Canons- 
burg.  The  orator  was  chosen  by  each  of  the  societies 
in  turn ;  and  it  was  the  Franklin,  my  own  old  society, 


YOUTH  AXD  EARLY  MANHOOD.  03 

that  paid  mo  this  compliment.  There  were  still  in  col- 
lege a  few  students  who  had,  as  preparatory  scholars, 
been  members  of  the  Philo  in  my  day.  They  were  now 
pompons  seniors :  and,  absurdly  enough,  they  chose  to 
regard  the  choice  of  a  man  who  had  so  lately  wrested  an 
honor  from  their  society,  as  an  insult  to  their  majesty;  so, 
in  the  student  parlance,  they  "  flew  the  track."  The 
Franklins  stuck  to  their  choice.  In  order  to  annihilate 
the  boy-speaker,  the  bolters  chose  the  famous  Alexander 
Campbell.  I  need  not  say  that  I  dreaded  being  set  in 
competition  with  such  a  giant.  The  next  struggle  was 
as  to  who  should  have  the  regular  time  for  the  oration, 
—  the  night  before  Commencement,  —  and  the  Frank- 
lins won. 

"When  I  reached  Canonsburg,  I  was  much  depressed. 
Before  the  hour  appointed  for  my  address,  the  societies 
held  their  closing  exercises.  One  of  the  young  speakers 
quoted  a  long  passage  from  the  inaugural  I  had  pro- 
nounced at  Northwood.  This  cheered  me  a  little.  When 
we  went  down  to  Providence  Hall,  as  the  college  chapel 
was  called,  I  found  it  filled  with  a  great  audience.  On 
the  platform  were  the  Faculty,  many  of  the  trustees,  and 
the  famous  Alexander.  Suffice  it  to  say,  I  did  my  best. 
Old  Dr.  Brown,  who  righteously  hated  Campbell,  sat  a 
few  seats  in  front  of  me,  and,  hearing  that  I  was  one 
of  his  old  pupils,  shouted  out  every  once  and  again, 
"  Brilliant !  "  "  brilliant !  "  The  Franklins  cheered,  and 
the  audience  also.  I  got  through.  Campbell  was 
obliged  to  speak  next  day  at  the  close  of  the  Commence- 
ment exercises,  amid  much  confusion.  His  speech  itself 
was  great ;  but  it  was  tamely  read  from  the  manuscript. 
and  made  very  little  impression.    At  the  time,  it  was  not 


64  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

a  matter  of  indifference  to  me  that  I  was  praised  by  the 
Pittsburg  papers,  while  his  speech  was  pronounced  a 
failure. 

This  was  the  only  time  I  ever  saw  this  truly  great 
man.  His  head  was  massive,  his  brow  lofty  and  jut- 
ting ;  the  perceptive  faculties  marked  according  to  the 
phrenologists,  and  gathered  into  a  knot  over  his  nose ; 
the  nose  large  and  aquiline,  not  one  of  your  thin,  paper- 
like, semi-transparent  noses,  but  an  aggressive,  defiant, 
solid  nose ;  the  mouth  well  set,  with  powerful,  but  not 
massive,  jaws  ;  a  powerful  frame  tending  to  stoop,  and 
a  somewhat  corpulent  habit.  Altogether,  it  seems  to  me 
that  he  was  more  distinctly  stamped  with  greatness,  the 
greatest-looking  man  I  have  seen.  Perhaps  in  this  re- 
spect Dr.  Willson  was  his  peer.  The  latter  was  as  good 
as  he  was  great.     Alexander  Campbell,  I  fear,  was  not. 

In  October  of  the  same  year  I  was  licensed  to  preach, 
the  Presbytery  thinking  that  my  experience  should  stand 
in  the  place  of  a  more  extended  course.  I  have  always 
regretted  that  hiatus  in  my  education.  Here  I  may  as 
well  record  the  mistake  of  my  life,  which  consisted  in 
purchasing,  in  partnership  with  my  brother-in-law,  Mr. 
John  Milligan,  a  large  three-story  brick  house,  "which 
had  been  built  for  a  girls'  school  by  the  wife  of  our  pre- 
ceptor in  theology.  It  eventually  proved  an  elephant 
on  our  hands,  a  source  of  trouble  and  pecuniary  loss. 
But  for  a  time  all  went  well.  The  schools  flourished, 
and  promised  fairly.  At  one  time,  there  were  a  hun- 
dred pupils  in  the  two  institutions  together.  Of  course, 
it  was  a  period  of  hard  work,  —  teaching,  managing 
the  schools,  preaching,  and  making  public  addresses. 
I  remember  speaking  at  the  anniversaries  of  the  county 


YOUTH  AXD  EARLY  MAXTIOOD.  G5 

Bible  societies  in  Xcnia,  Springfield,  and  Bellcfontaine. 
I  also  spoke  at  the  annual  fair  of  the  Agricultural  Society 
of  Logan  County.     This  was,  I  think,  in  18-34. 

In  1853  had  been  born  our  only  daughter.  She  was 
a  delicate  child  from  the  first,  and  died  in  the  following 
spring.  In  the  winter  of  the  same  year,  her  mother's 
health  began  to  show  symptoms  of  a  decline.  In  the 
spring  she  was  much  worse.  The  summer  was  spent  in 
travelling,  and  consulting  physicians.  We  even  went  as 
far  as  Philadelphia  for  advice  from  a  distinguished  doc- 
tor. It  was  the  sad  repetition  of  a  common  story-  The 
sufferer  had  from  the  beginning  cherished  no  hope  of 
recovery,  and  submitted  to  the  various  efforts  to  restore 
or  prolong  health,  only  in  compliance  with  the  wishes 
of  others.  She  constantly  spoke  of  death  as  imminent. 
In  October  she  passed  away,  calm  in  the  Christian's 
hope,  without  a  fear,  and  in  the  full  assurance  of  a 
Christian's  faith. 

She  was  a  woman  of  large  frame,  tall  and  dignified, 
very  bashful  when  a  girl,  and  never  entirely  free  from 
the  reserve  which  springs  from  that  characteristic. 
Her  complexion  was  fair  and  bright,  her  blue  eyes 
full  and  expressive,  and  her  hair  was  very  luxuriant 
and  black.  She  was  endowed  with  the  faculty  of  con- 
trol. All  who  came  near  her  felt  the  power  of  her 
will,  and  seemed  to  yield  to  it  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Her  judgment  was  almost  unerring,  and,  for  the  most 
part,  guided  both  her  husband  and  her  brothers.  She 
controlled  the  girls  whom  she  taught  in  the  seminary 
without  effort,  and  was  beloved  by  them  all.  Her  edu- 
cation, aside  from  that  obtained  in  the  common  schools, 
was  largely   acquired   at   home.     She   read  the  Greek 


66  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

Testament  at  sight,  and  had  read  the  Hebrew  Bible 
entirely  through.  Having  occasion  to  teach  algebra, 
she  mastered  the  best  text-book  without  assistance,  and 
then  taught  it  to  her  classes.  She  lacked  confidence  in 
herself,  and  never  knew  her  own  power.  I  need  not 
add  that  she  was  eminently  and  devoutly  pious,  and 
opened  her  school  regularly  with  extemporaneous  prayer. 
A  marble  shaft,  and  at  its  side  a  small  headstone,  stand 
in  the  God's  acre  of  Northwood  church.  On  the  former 
are  inscribed  the  names  of  the  mother  and  her  daughter, 
who  repose  beneath,  in  the  hope  of  a  glorious  resur- 
rection. 

In  the  late  winter  and  spring  of  1855  I  went  to  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  on  a  mission  for  the  college,  which 
was  under  the  care  of  the  church.  The  Third  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  of  New  York  was  at  that  time 
vacant.  I  preached  in  its  pulpit,  and  also  in  that  of 
the  First  Church  as  assistant  at  a  communion-service. 
Some  weeks  after  I  had  left  the  city,  an  election  for 
pastor  was  held  in  the  former  congregation,  which  re- 
sulted in  my  favor.  When,  a  little  later,  it  was  presented, 
I  accepted.  There  is  no  need  to  give  detailed  reasons 
for  the  step  I  then  took.  Every  following  year  but 
served  to  convince  me  of  the  propriety  of  the  change, 
although  it  was  made  at  the  sacrifice  of  all  that  I  had 
invested  in  the  seminary,  and  was,  as  it  were,  a  new 
start  in  the  world.  Northwood  was  never  attractive, 
but  the  opposite.  The  village  was  then  a  mere  hamlet, 
ten  miles  from  a  railway ;  and  the  surrounding  country 
was  flat,  and  to  a  considerable  degree  unimproved. 
There  was  a  settlement  of  respectable  farmers,  who 
were  all  that  could  be  expected ;  but  of  society,  such  as 


YOUTH   AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  G7 

an  overworked  man  in  the  offices  of  pastor  and  teacher 
would  naturally  desire,  there  was  very  little.  I  never 
really  had  my  own  consent  to  the  entanglement  of  the 
schools ;  and  after  the  loss  of  my  wife,  who  was  a  mar- 
tyr to  the  work  of  carrying  them  on,  I  became  more  and 
more  dissatisfied.  I  think  it  wTas  on  the  second  day 
of  January,  1856,  that  having  made  such  arrangement  of 
my  affairs  as  I  could,  and  taking  with  me  my  child,  a 
son  of  five  years  old,  I  started  for  New  York.  We  vis- 
ited at  !Ncw  Alexandria,  Penn.,  the  family  of  my  father- 
in-law,  Dr.  Milligan,  and  the  next  week,  although  the 
cold  was  intense,  took  up  our  journey.  We  were  over- 
taken in  the  Alleghanies  by  a  heavy  snow-storm,  which 
delayed  us  for  two  days ;  but  on  Friday  we  reached  New 
York  in  safety,  and  the  same  evening  met  with  a 
number  of  the  people  of  my  future  charge. 


V. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.  -  PUBLIC   LIFE    IN  NEW 

YORK. 

I  entered  upon  my  pastoral  work  in  New  York  au- 
spiciously. The  congregation  was  small,  but  seemed  en- 
couraged. They  were  united,  —  or,  at  all  events,  they 
all  gave  a  cordial  welcome  to  the  new  pastor.  The 
church-building  was  of  wood,  and  stood  on  Waverly 
Place.  It  had  a  bell-tower  and  a  bell,  but  the  exterior 
was  certainly  not  imposing  in  appearance.  The  inside, 
however,  was  neat  and  comfortable.  There  were  three 
galleries,  and  the  seating  capacity  of  the  auditorium  was 
sufficient  for  about  five  hundred  people.  The  acoustic 
properties  were  perfect,  and  I  have  never  spoken  with 
greater  ease  to  myself  than  in  that  little  church. 

It  was,  I  think,  during  my  first  winter  in  New  York, 
that  the  question  of  the  Bible  in  the  schools  was  so  hotly 
agitated.  By  appointment  the  Protestant  clergy  were  to 
preach  on  the  subject  at  a  preconcerted  time,  the  even- 
ing of  a  certain  Lord's  Day.  "The  New  York  Times" 
sent  a  reporter,  and  during  the  following  week  gave  a 
good  report  of  my  sermon.  "  The  Freeman's  Journal  " 
(Roman  Catholic)  singled  it  out  for  criticism,  and  said 
that  "  this  gentleman  had  a  much  stronger  grip  of  his 
subject  than ." '  naming  one  of  the  most  prominent 

1  Dr.  Henry  B.  Clieever. 
G8 


PUBLIC    LIFE    IN    NEW    YORK.  C9 

New- York  preachers.  Its  comments  were,  of  course, 
adverse  to  my  discourse,  as  they  were  to  nearly  all  the 
others  delivered  the  same  night.  This  was  the  first 
notice   I  had  from  the  press. 

Life  was  as  agreeable  as  it  could  be  without  a  home 
of  one's  own,  though  the  kind  friends  with  whom  we 
lived  went  as  far  as  is  possible  to  compensate  for  that 
lack.  The  friendships  formed  at  that  time  have  been 
the  firmest  and  among  the  most  cherished  of  my  life. 
There  is  little  to  be  said  of  the  routine  of  a  pastor's  life 
that  has  not  been  often  said.  I  was  kept  very  busy,  and 
felt  the  intellectual  incitements  of  a  great  city.  In  par- 
ticular I  attended  all  the  best  lectures,  the  most  interest- 
ing meetings,  and  especially  in  the  spring  the  great  reli- 
gious anniversaries  which  were  then  in  their  glory. 
Among  the  most  popular  speakers  were  Dr.  Tyng,  who 
might  have  been  called  the  king  of  the  platform ;  Theo- 
dore Cuyler,  who  had  just  come  to  New  York,  and  was 
able  and  popular ;  Dr.  Stone  from  Boston,  who  after- 
wards went  to  San  Francisco,  and  died  there ;  Dr. 
Joseph  P.  Thompson,  who,  though  by  reason  of  his  pe- 
culiar gifts  he  was  never  exactly  popular,  was  yet  every- 
where acceptable  ;  and,  of  course,  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
who  created  a  furore  wherever  he  spoke. 

The  anti-slavery  platform  was  a  thing  by  itself.  Its 
great  men  were  Garrison,  strong,  sensible,  and  honest ; 
Theodore  Parker,  clear,  polished  in  style,  and,  on  the 
slavery  question,  powerful,  a  truly  great  man  intellectu- 
ally, a  giant  indeed ;  Charles  Burleigh,  a  fanatic,  but  a 
tempest  on  the  platform  ;  Parker  Pillsbury,  slow,  delib- 
erate, ponderous,  and  an  infidel,  I  believe  an  honest 
one ;  and,  foremost  of  all,  the  peerless  Wendell  Phillips. 


70  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

The  latter  was  the  great  attraction  at  the  anti-slavery 
meetings.  I  did  not,  however,  hear  him  until  the  fol- 
lowing year. 

In  the  mean  time  my  work  went  smoothly  on,  varied 
by  occasional  visits  to  the  house  at  Newburg  of  my  friend 
Hen  wick  Thompson,  —  between  whom  and  myself  there 
has  been  a  warm  attachment  since  I  first  met  him  at 
Xorthwood,  —  and  by  one  particular  visit  to  Vermont 
and  the  home  of  my  childhood.  On  the  latter  visit  I 
must  dwell  for  a  few  moments.  I  had  now  been  ab- 
sent twenty-six  years.  My  mother's  family  had,  as  I 
have  already  told,  settled  there  simultaneously  with  my 
father's  call  to  Topsham.  They  were  now  somewhat 
scattered  to  the  westward  in  Ohio  and  elsewhere,  but 
there  were  still  my  grandfather  and  four  of  my  uncles 
living  in  the  old  neighborhood.  I  was  met  at  the 
station  by  uncle  John  McNiece,  who  lived  on  the  old 
homestead  of  his  family.  When  we  came  in  sight  of  it, 
I  did  not  at  first  recognize  the  spot ;  for  the  old  buildings 
were  gone,  and  new  ones  had  taken  their  place.  But, 
as  we  drove  up  to  the  house  by  an  unfamiliar  road,  the 
landscape  began  to  take  shape,  and  soon  all  was  natural. 
Grandfather  sat  in  the  front  door,  —  it  was  the  last  day 
of  June,  —  an  old  man  bowed  with  the  weight  of  eighty 
years,  waiting  to  welcome  us.  He  embraced  me  with 
affection,  and  was  for  a  time  overcome  by  the  violence 
of  his  emotions.  My  aunt  deserves  a  word  of  recogni- 
tion. She  had  lived  in  the  near  neighborhood  from 
childhood,  and  was  a  remarkable  woman,  one  of  the 
best  in  that  interesting  class  of  widely  read  Yankee 
women  only  to  be  found  in  New  England  fifty  years 
since.     From  her  youth  she  was  a  marvel  of  theological 


PUBLIC  LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK.  71 

lore,  arid  could  "  reason  high  of  providence,  foreknowl- 
edge, will,  and  fate." 

The  following  day  we  were  to  visit  the  old  home. 
Soon  I  was  on  familiar  ground,  and  the  road  was  in 
sight  of  the  grand  chain  of  the  White  and  Franconia 
Mountains.  The  approach  to  the  old  house  was  down 
a  long  hill,  such  as  only  New  England  knows  how  to  get 
up.  My  eye  first  caught  sight  of  a  Lombardy  poplar. 
I  had  never  thought  of  that  tree  since  my  childhood, 
but  it  all  came  back  with  vividness ;  and,  turning  to 
uncle,  I  asked,  "  There  is  that  poplar,  but  what  has 
become  of  the  other"? "  In  some  surprise  he  said  it  had 
blown  over  some  years  before.  An  old  schoolmate, 
now  a  widow,  was  living  in  the  house.  It  was  the  same, 
no  change,  not  the  touch  of  a  paint-brush,  not  the  driv- 
ing of  a  nail.  I  noticed  that  the  boards  of  the  kitchen- 
floor,  immediately  in  front  of  the  fireplace,  were  worn 
through.  What  was  the  cause'?  The  frequent  appli- 
cation of  the  hemlock-broom  through  years  of  careful 
housewifery.  I  looked  into  the  room  where  brother 
John  and  I  had  slept,  and  where  we  used  to  lie  waiting 
in  the  cold  winter  mornings  till  we  could  hear  the  wood- 
fire  roaring  in  the  next  room,  or  the  voice  of  father, 
"  Come,  my  fine  boys,  it  is  time  to  get  up."  Then  wre 
visited  the  barn,  that  delight  of  all  children,  —  the  same, 
no  change.  Was  that  the  same  hay  in  the  mow?  It 
seemed  so.  Were  these  the  same  hens  from  whose  nests 
we  used  to  take  the  warm  white  eggs  ?     It  seemed  so. 

We  went  on  one  mile  to  Topsham  Village.  Every 
step  was  familiar  ground.  Just  under  the  birch,  on  that 
bank,  was  a  certain  well-remembered  bird's-nest  with  its 
speckled   treasures.      Here    was    the   home    of   Ma'am 


72  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

Brewster,  who  in  summer  days  often  added  a  fresh-peeled 
cucumber  to  the  stores  of  our  lunch-basket,  to  be  eaten 
at  noontide  with  relish.  A  little  farther  on  was  Brier 
Hill,  well  named,  a  kind  of  open  pasture  for  sheep : 
the  rams  with  their  huge  horns  had  lost  their  terror. 
On  the  left  was  the  pasture  where  Taber's  bull  had  fed 
in  the  schoolboy  days.  As  a  stone  wall  was  between  us 
and  him,  our  courage  was  sufficiently  tried  by  climbing 
it,  and  sending  a  challenge  in  the  way  of  imitating  his 
own  dull  roar.  For  the  brute  but  to  lift  his  shaggy  head 
was  sufficient  to  send  us  scampering  down  the  road. 
The  schoolhouse,  it  was  the  same,  older-looking,  to  be 
sure,  with  its  seats  and  desks  badly  used  by  the  gener- 
ations of  jack-knives  that  had  held  successive  sway. 
The  sins  of  my  own  youth  came  back  ;  but  I  trusted  the 
recording  angel  had  dropped  his  tear  upon  them,  and 
obliterated  them  long  ago. 

The  great,  clear,  beautiful  brook  was  tossing  and 
tumbling  and  foaming  over  the  rocks  behind  the  school 
as  of  old ;  yes,  and  the  sawmill  was  still  running ;  and 
there  were  the  spruce  logs  from  which  we  obtained  the 
delicious  chewing-gum, — the  red  was  the  best!  —  and 
the  piles  of  boards  among  which  we  played  hide  and  seek, 
and  which  we  used  for  the  more  delightful  pastime  of 
see-saw.     Ay  de  mi ! 

The  next  day  was  a  fast  preparatory  to  the  com- 
munion :  and,  as  I  looked  from  the  pulpit,  I  picked 
out  a  half-dozen  of  the  faces  that  had  been  there  in 
my  childhood ;  Mr.  Johnston,  the  pastor,  verifying  my 
remembrance  as  accurate.  On  communion-day  itself, 
there  was  a  great  crowd  to  hear  the  Topsham  boy.  On 
Monday,  there  was  a  re-union  of  all  the  members  of  the 


PUBLIC  LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK.  73 

family  left  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  But  this 
is  a  long  story.  The  visit  was  intensely  interesting  by 
reason  of  the  phenomena,  in  which,  through  the  law  of 
association,  all  in  a  moment,  a  flood  of  long-forgotten 
memories  came  pouring  in  upon  me. 

"  Lulled  in  the  countless  chambers  of  the  brain, 
Our  thoughts  are  linked  in  many  a  hidden  chain. 
Awake  but  one,  and  lo  !  what  myriads  rise  ! 
Each  stamps  its  image  as  the  other  flies." 

During  the  first  year  of  my  pastorate  in  Xew  York, 
I  preached  occasionally  against  slavery,  but,  as  my 
memory  now  serves  me,  not  on  any  occasions  of  special 
interest.  In  the  spring  of  1857  the  Anti-Slavery 
Society  invited  me  to  speak  at  their  anniversary.  I  com- 
plied with  their  request,  and  was,  as  the  junior,  assigned 
to  the  first  position  in  the  evening.  As  far  as  I  remem- 
ber, Wendell  Phillips  was  the  only  other  speaker.  The 
managers  seemed  pleased  with  my  speech.  Phillips,  in 
following,  characterized  it  as  that  "  high  moral  and  sub- 
lime strain  to  which  they  had  listened."  Dr.  Gould  of 
Edinburgh  published  it  in  his  magazine,  with  an  intro- 
duction, in  which  he  said  many  flattering  things.  lie 
also  sent  it  to  Dr.  Guthrie,  who  was  good  enough  to 
return  it  with  high  encomiums.  It  appeared  in  print  as 
it  was  taken  down  by  a  reporter. 

Thereafter  I  was  regularly  invited  to  speak  at  the 
anniversary  of  this  society,  until  slavery  was  abolished 
by  Mr.  Lincoln's  proclamation.  My  other  speeches  were 
reported  regularly  in  "  The  Anti-Slavery  Standard,"  and 
sometimes  in  "  The  Liberator  ;"  but  they  were  too  often 
sadly  mangled  and  distorted  in  the   hands  of  incompe- 


74  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

tent  reporters.  The  speech  of  1857  was  far  enough 
from  deserving  the  eulogies  heaped  upon  it,  which  were, 
I  know,  extravagant ;  but  it  demies  the  attitude  in 
which  I  stood  to  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  of  which  I 
was  never  a  member.  The  last  speech  which  I  made 
before  them  was  in  May,  1863,  at  their  last  anniversary 
celebration  in  the  Church  of  the  Puritans.1  Garrison, 
Phillips,  Douglas,  Pemond,  Purvis,  Pillsbury,  Weld, 
and  the  rest,  were  on  the  platform.  The  church  was 
crowded  :  emancipation  was  now  proclaimed,  and  "  anti- 
slavery  "  was  popular.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
Weld  brought  down  the  house  by  an  allusion  to  my 
father.  Rising  after  me,  he  said,  "  Mr.  Chairman,  look- 
ing through  the  mists  of  nearly  thirty  years,  I  see  a 
strong,  serious  face :  it  is  that  of  an  old  Covenanter 
minister.  He  is  gone,  he  is  gone  ;  but  he  left  his  man- 
tle behind.  As  he  ascended,  it  fell  full  and  broad  upon 
this  his  first-born  son,"  —  spreading  his  hands,  as  he 
spoke,  over  my  head,  where  I  sat  on  the  platform.  In 
an  instant  the  audience  was  in  tears.  I  have  seen  few 
as  remarkable  effects  in  public  audiences. 

2  The  events  connected  with  the  John  Brown  raid  have 
become  a  matter  of  history,  and  are  too  well  known  to 
require  repetition  here :  suffice  it  to  say  that  the  old 
martyr-hero  was  captured  on  the  18th  of  October,  and 
hung,  while  yet  unrecovered  from  his  wounds,  by  the 
excited  and  frenzied  Virginia  authorities  of  that  day, 
on  the  2d  of  December,  1859. 

By   this   tragic    event,    his   family    was    left    entirely 

1  That  of  Dr.  Chcever,  which  stood  at  Union  Square  and  Fifteenth  Street, 
on  the  site  of  Tiffany's  store. 

2  Christian  Nation,  December,  1884. 


PUBLIC  LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK.  75 

destitute.  In  the  number  were  three  widows, — his  own 
wife  and  the  wives  of  the  two  sons,  who  died  fighting 
by  their  father's  side,  in  the  now  well-known  ';  John 
Brown's  Fort "  at  Harper's  Ferry.  It  immediately  oc- 
curred to  some  benevolent  anti-slavery  people  to  attempt 
to  raise  a  fund  which  might  place  these  sorrowful  and 
destitute  persons  beyond  the  fear  of  want ;  it  was  in 
aid  of  this  fund,  called  "  The  John  Brown  Fund,"  that 
a  meeting  was  called ;  it  was,  therefore,  for  a  purely 
benevolent  purpose,  and,  as  the  programme  shows,  de- 
signed to  be  of  a  somewhat  religious  character. 

The  meeting  was  appointed  for  the  evening  of  the 
loth  of  December,  while  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
tragic  event  were  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  and 
the  South  still  shaking  from  the  fright  that  the  attack 
on  the  peculiar  institution  had  caused.  It  began  to  be 
rumored  a  few  days  before  the  meeting,  that  an  attempt 
would  be  made  to  excite  a  riot,  and  either  prevent  it 
from  being  held  altogether,  or  break  it  up  if  it  should 
go  forward.  The  day  preceding  the  meeting,  Thaddeus 
Hyatt,  who  had  been  one  of  John  Brown's  men  in 
Kansas,  came  to  my  house  to  inquire  whether  I  was 
willing  to  meet  the  emergency,  or  would  prefer  that 
they  should  endeavor  to  get  some  one  to  take  my 
place  !  I  was  not  at  home,  but  my  representative  told 
him  that  she  did  not  think  I  would  hesitate  a  moment. 

At  the  time  appointed,  the  great  hall  of  the  "  Cooper 
Institute,"  as  it  was  then  called,  was  filled  to  overflow- 
ing. On  the  platform  were  seated  "  Shelton's  Band," 
the  officers  of  the  meeting,  whose  names  I  cannot  recall, 
the  speakers,  and  a  large  number  of  anti-slavery  people 
of  New  York. 


TG  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

The  audience,  as  it  appeared  from  the  platform,  was 
quiet,  respectable,  and  unexcited :  the  friends  of  the 
meeting  were  congratulating  themselves  on  a  great 
success.     We  shall  see  by  and  by. 

The  programme  gives  the  following  order :  Music, 
"  Oh,  come,  and  let  us  worship ; "  prayer ;  music, 
"Pleyel's  German  Hymn;"  opening  address,  Rev. 
George  B.  Cheever.  Up  to  this  point,  all  was  quiet, 
silent,  respectful,  and  even  reverential.  Dr.  Cheever, 
as  shown  above,  was  the  first  speaker.  He  was,  at  that 
time,  in  the  height  of  his  power,  with  enough  of  brains, 
as  Dr.  Stephen  Tyng,  sen.,  said,  to  set  up  half  a  dozen 
ministers.  He  was  fiery,  impetuous,  impassioned,  vigor* 
ous,  master  of  a  fine  style  somewhat  rhetorical,  abound- 
ing in  metaphor  and  illustration,  all  interspersed  with 
hard  hits,  which,  on  one  occasion,  Mr.  Phillips  desig- 
nated "  the  thunderbolts  of  Jove."  Some  idea  may  be 
formed  of  the  impression  which  he  made  from  another 
remark  of  Mr.  Phillips.  Sitting  beside  him  on  one 
occasion  while  Cheever  was  speaking,  he  said,  "  I  wish 
they  had  let  me  speak  first :  what  I  have  to  say  will  be 
cold  and  tame  after  Cheever  has  poured  out  his  red-hot 
lava."  At  this  time,  as  many  will  remember,  he  was 
pouring  out  his  "  red-hot  lava "  on  successive  sabbath 
evenings  in  the  "  Church  of  the  Puritans,"  which 
at  that  time  stood  on  Union  Square.  The  doctor  had 
not  spoken  more  than  a  few  sentences  when  a  decently 
dressed  man  sprang  up  immediately  in  front  of  the 
platform,  and,  shaking  a  stout  cane  at  the  speaker, 
declared  with  horrible  imprecations  that  he  would 
make  a  martyr  of  him.  Then  the  tumult  began, 
breaking  out  in  all  parts  of  the  hall  apparently  at  once, 


PUBLIC  LTFE  IN  NEW  YORK.  77 

—  shouts,  hootings,  hissings,  cat-calls,  groans;  "Order! 
order !  "  "  Put  him  out !  "  "  Down  with  him  !  "  "Go 
on!"  demoniac  yells,  cheers,  counter-cheers,  and  —  who 
can  describe  Pandemonium'?  Precautions  had  been 
taken  to  secure  a  number  of  policemen :  about  thirty.  I 
believe,  were  scattered  about  the  hall.  They  did  nobly, 
struggled  bravely  with  the  rioters,  and  occasionally 
plied  their  clubs  effectively ;  but  they  were  too  few  in 
number,  and  unable  fully  to  cope  with  the  mob.  Dr. 
Cheever  stood  to  his  post ;  the  friends  of  the  meeting 
encouraged  him  with  cheers  and  cries  of  "  Go  on !  go 
on ! "  and  he  did  go  on  until  the  last  sentence  was 
completed,  although  but  short  portions  of  his  noble 
speech  could  be  heard.  During  the  greater  time  of 
the  delivery  of  this  speech,  a  large  proportion,  both  of 
those  in  the  audience  and  on  the  platform,  were  on 
their  feet.  It  was,  perhaps,  about  the  time  that  this 
speech  was  closing,  that  the  chief  of  police,  a  Mr.  Pills- 
bury,  with  seventy-five  men  behind  him,  entered  the 
hall.  The  chief  took  his  stand  on  the  platform  ;  and 
the  men  distributed  themselves  about  the  hall,  and 
engaged  the  rioters. 

The  next  speaker  was  Wendell  Phillips.  He  stepped 
forward  to  the  front  of  the  platform,  calm,  collected, 
dignified,  with  that  severe,  down-bearing  look  that  was 
peculiar  to  him.  It  would  have  been  hard  to  determine 
whether  in  his  expression  there  was  most  of  pity  or  scorn 
for  these  baying  hounds  of  the  slave-power.  There  was 
still  much  confusion,  and  an  occasional  struggle  with  the 
police  ;  but  what  with  the  charm  of  the  great  orator,  and 
the  failure  of  their  attempts  to  break  up  the  meeting, 
the  tumult  was  somewhat  allayed.     I  heard  Mr.  Phillips 


78  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

frequently,  but  never  heard  him  rise  to  grander  heights 
of  eloquence  than  on  this  occasion.  The  storm,  called 
out  his  noblest  powers :  he  was  above  it,  as  if  guiding 
it.  One  illustration  of  this,  but  imperfectly  recalled, 
may  serve  to  give  an  idea,  although  a  faint  one,  of 
his  peculiar  power.  "  All  that  John  Brown  did,  was  to 
endeavor  to  help  men  to  liberty.  Did  he  do  right %n  — 
"  NO  !  "  from  a  hundred  murderous  throats.  "  Well, 
I  was  born  at  the  base  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  I  say  he 
did  do  right.  If  not,  answer,  Byron,  from  your  marshy 
bed  at  Missolonghi,  why  did  you  go  to  help  the  Greeks  ? 
If  not,  answer,  Kosciusko,  from  your  tomb  on  the 
Hudson,  why  did  you  come  to  help  us  ?  If  not,  an- 
swer, Lafayette  "  —  "  We  were  white  men,"  again 
roared  the  many-headed  beast.  "  Yes  "  (with  ineffable 
scorn),  "  you  were  white  men.  Lafayette  said  if  he  had 
known  that  he  was  fighting  for  a  white  slave-republic,  he 
would  never  have  drawn  his  sword  for  America." 

The  next  speaker  was  the  Rev.  Hiram  Mattison  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  pastor  of  a  congregation 
then  worshipping  in  Forty-second  Street.  Professor 
Mattison,  as  he  was  called,  was  an  able,  accomplished, 
and  scholarly  man,  fearless  in  his  denunciation  of  slavery, 
and  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  for  liberty.  He  was  at 
this  time  in  delicate  health,  and  was  not  able  to  com- 
mand sufficient  volume  of  voice  to  enable  him  to  be  heard 
amid  the  confusion  and  jeers  of  the  rabble  :  otherwise, 
his  speech  was  every  way  worthy  of  himself  and  the 
occasion. 

To  me  was  assigned  the  last  speech.  While  the  band 
w;is  playing  a  "  Sacred  March,"  a  friend  of  the  meet- 
ing came  and  told  me  that  there  would  be  an  attempt 


PUBLIC  LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK.  79 

made  to  put  me  down,  that  they  might  have  it  to 
publish  to  the  country  that  the  meeting  had  broken  up 
in  a  general  row.  I  suppose  this  was  told  the  chief  of 
police  ;  for,  when  I  arose,  he  stepped  forward,  and  took 
his  stand  by  my  side,  and  at  the  first  outbreak  reminded 
the  rioters  that  the  gentleman  must  be  heard.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  he  was  heard,  with  comparatively  few 
interruptions,  until  his  speech  was  ended.  The  band 
played,  the  friends  in  the  audience  cheered,  those  on  the 
platform  shook  hands,  and  congratulated  one  another  on 
the  great  success,  and  the  meeting  quietly  dispersed.  I 
have  none  of  the  accounts  given  by  the  papers  at  hand. 
"  The  Herald,"  however,  pronounced  it  one  of  the  rough- 
est meetings  ever  held  in  New  York ;  while  some  of 
them  had  in  large  head-lines, "  Free  Speech  Vindicated," 
"  Free  Speech  Triumphant,"  etc.1 

"With  a  few  incidents  connected  with  the  meeting,  I 
close  my  account.  At  one  time  there  was  a  violent 
rush  made  for  the  platform,  with  the  design,  it  was  said, 
of  hurling  the  speakers  from  it.  About  thirty  of  the 
rioters  succeeded  in  gaining  it,  but  for  some  reason  did 
not  make  the  attempt.  One  of  them  was  close  at  my 
side.  A  lady,  touching  my  shoulder,  whispered,  "  Do 
you  know  that  man  V  I  replied  in  the  negative.  She 
said,  "  Take  care !  that  is  one  of  the  worst  ruffians  in 
New  York."  He  was  displaying  his  courage  by  mutter- 
ing curses  through  his  closed  teeth.     A  friend  who  had 

1  The  New- York  Tribune's  account  of  the  meeting  contained  the  fol- 
lowing reference  to  Mr.  Sloane's  own  address:  "  The  Rev.  J.  il.  W.  Sloane 
came  forward;  and  in  the  course  of  his  address  he  succeeded,  by  describing 
the  characteristics  of  the  turbulent  element  which  had  disturbed  the  meeting, 
in  quieting  the  rioters,  and,  in  fact,  caused  many  of  them  to  hang  tic  ir 
heads,  and  leave  the  room! "  — Ed. 


80  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

been  in  the  audience,  afterward  told  me  that  Morrissey, 
the  Sullivan  of  that  day,  was  present,  surrounded  by  a 
band  of  kindred  spirits  helping  to  swell  the  uproar. 
Many  ladies  were  present,  displaying  great  self-posses- 
sion, and  keeping  their  places  to  the  last.  Also  I  could 
recognize  in  the  audience  the  faces  of  a  goodly  number 
of  Scotch  Covenanters.  Their  presence  was  an  inspira- 
tion :  it  seemed  to  say,  "  Never  mind ;  if  the  worst 
comes  to  the  worst,  we  are  here"  —  men  of  that  class  of 
whom  it  was  eloquently  said  that  "  they  never  beat  on 
their  drumhead  the  hollow  sound  of  retreat."  We  could 
see  from  the  platform  an  occasional  rush  to  some  point 
in  the  hall,  a  confused  struggle,  the  clubs  of  police- 
men waving  above  the  heads  of  the  contestants,  and 
hear  a  scream  of  pain  as  some  rioter  received  a  blow, 
and  was  hustled  to  the  door,  —  that  was  not  a  pleasant 
sight  or  sound.  The  police-station  gathered  in  between 
thirty  and  forty,  many  of  them  with  very  sore  heads, 
among  them  some  few  who  were  not  accustomed  to  such 
associations.  The  amusing  side  of  the  matter  was,  that 
these  fellows  had  utterly  failed  to  break  up  the  meeting, 

—  their  own  heads  being  the  only  thing  that  was  broken, 

—  and  had  helped  to  swell  the  "  John  Brown  Fund,"  as 
every  one  of  them  was  compelled  to  pay  an  admission- 
fee  of  twenty-five  cents  in  order  to  gain  entrance  to  the 
hall. 

AYhcncc  came  these  ruffians  \  For  the  most  part  from 
the  slums  of  the  city,  hired  to  attempt  this  enterprise  by 
men  who  took  care  to  keep  their  names  from  notoriety, 
and  their  bodies  out  of  harm's  way.  The  "  Custom 
House  "  was  said  to  have  been  the  place  where  this  val- 
iant scheme  originated.     This  was  the  current  rumor. 


PUBLIC   LIFE  IX    NEW  YORK.  81 

The  outlook  is  again  somewhat  dark,  but  let  us  not 
despair  of  the  Republic.1  God  reigns.  The  triumphing 
of  the  wicked  is  short.  Already  we  hear  the  voice  of 
an  awakened  North  like  the  distant  roar  of  the  roused 
ocean.  True,  once  more  she  has  bowed  her  neck  to 
bear  and  become  a  servant  under  tribute  to  the  South ; 
but  she  will  again  throw  that  yoke  from  off  her  shoul- 
ders, and  remand  the  men  whom  not  worth,  but  accident, 
has  placed  in  power,  to  the  obscurity  from  whence  it  is  a 
pity  that  they  had  ever  emerged.  In  less  than  three 
years  after  the  scenes  above  described,  the  land  trembled 
beneath  the  tread  of  armed  thousands  moving  to  the 
mightiest  conflict  of  the  age,  chanting  the  words  of  that 
most  inspiring  of  war-songs.  — 

"  John  Brown's  body  lies  a-mouldering  in  the  grave, 
But  his  soul  is  marching  on." 

In  the  spring  of  1860  I  delivered  a  speech  in  Trcmont 
Temple,  Boston,  of  which  I  have  since  heard  from  many 
friends.  Besides  these  public  addresses,  I  preached  fre- 
quently on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  spoke  at  smaller 
conventions  and  meetings  a  number  —  not  a  great  num- 
ber—  of  times. 

I  have  been  asked  about  the  relation  of  the  Scotch 
Presbyterian  churches  to  slavery.  Our  own  church  was 
organized  from  the  first  as  an  anti-slavery  church.  A 
few  Covenanters  in  Orange  County.  N.Y.,  and  quite  a 
number  of  them  in  South  Carolina,  and  a  few,  I  think. 
in  Tennessee,  had,  while  their  organization  consisted 
merely  of  separate  societies  without  a  ministry,  pur- 
chased, or  in  some  way  become  possessed  of,  slaves.     The 

1  Dec.  4,  1884. 


82  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

commissions  which  organized  the  congregations  required 
the  members  to  manumit  their  human  chattels.  This 
they  did  in  all  cases :  it  is  not  known  that  a  single 
person  refused.  Thus  our  church  was  a  church  of 
Abolitionists  from  the  beginning.  Our  preachers  spoke 
against  it  everywhere  and  always;  and  in  the  sermons 
of  McKinney,  McLeod,  and  Willson  are  denunciations 
of  the  crime  as  severe  as  any  to  be  found  in  the  ad- 
dresses of  Garrison  or  Phillips.  The  proof  of  this  may 
be  found  in  the  pages  of  "  The  Evangelical  Witness," 
edited  by  Dr.  James  R.  Willson,  and  in  a  published 
sermon  by  Doctor  McLeod  of  New  York,  entitled, 
"  Negro  Slavery  Unjustifiable."  This  was  the  universal 
sentiment  of  the  church  from  the  very  first. 

Another  Scotch  church,  the  Secession  Church,  or 
Seceders,  as  they  were  generally  called,  were  also 
anti-slavery.  They  were  a  very  considerable  body, 
with  many  able  and  learned  men  in  their  ministry. 
They  did  not,  like  the  Covenanters,  refuse  to  vote  and 
hold  office  on  account  of  its  recognition  by  the  Govern- 
ment, but  they  were  anti-slavery.  Some  of  them  were 
deceived  for  a  time  by  the  Colonization  Society ;  but  the 
greater  part  came  in  time  to  see  through  what,  under  a 
false  pretence,  was  simply  a  method  to  relieve  the  slave- 
holders of  the  South  from  the  presence  of  free  negroes. 

The  Associate  Reformed  Church  was  the  result  of  an 
attempted  union  between  the  Reformed  Presbyterian,  or 
Covenanter,  Church  and  the  Associate,  or  tertium  quid, 
the  attempted  union  resulting  only  in  making  a  third 
body.  This  church  outgrew  the  other  two  bodies  from 
which  it  was  formed,  and,  although  not  nearly  so  pro- 
nounced as  the  parent  churches,  was  still  anti-slavery  in 


rUBLIC  LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK.  83 

a  high  degree.  The  present  United  Presbyterian  Church 
is  a  union  of  the  Associate  and  Associate  Reformed 
churches  which  was  consummated  in  Pittsburg  in  our 
own  day.  The  new  church  had  an  anti-slavery  clause 
in  its  Testimony  from  the  first. 

There  existed  also,  for  a  short  time  previous  to  the 
war,  a  Tree  Presbyterian  Church,  which  was  shortly 
after  Appomattox  merged  into  the  great  body  of  the 
Presbyterians. 

I  claimed  for  these  anti-slavery  churches  a  ministry 
numbering  before  the  war  about  seven  hundred.  In  my 
first  speech  I  said  that  I  was  an  Abolitionist,  —  not  ex- 
actly a  Garrisonian  Abolitionist,  though  I  had  no  objec- 
tion to  the  name  (Mr.  Garrison  was  in  the  chair),  but  a 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Abolitionist,  which  I  believed  to 
be  the  oldest  species  of  the  genus  extant.  Mr.  Garrison 
said  somewhat  facetiously  the  next  day,  that  when  the 
State  of  Georgia  offered  a  reward  for  him,  dead  or  alive, 
they  mistook  their  man :  it  was  evident,  from  the  speech 
they  had  heard  last  night,  that  they  should  have  desig- 
nated some  of  the  Old-School  Covenanters. 

"When  I  went  to  New  York,  there  was  no  organization, 
except  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  keeping  up  the  fight. 
There  were  anti-slavery  men  all  over  the  country,  but 
they  were  not  organized.  The  most  of  these  fell  in  with 
the  Republican  party,  which  had  for  its  sole  purpose  to 
confine  slavery  to  its  then  limits.  Even  Beecher,  who 
had  so  much  reputation  as  an  anti-slavery  man,  said  in 
a  speech  "  that  his  right  arm  might  fall  from  his  shoul- 
der sooner  than  he  would  undertake  to  disturb  slavery 
where  it  was."  The  fact  is,  that  the  Garrisonians  were 
the  only  active  Abolitionists  at  that  time.    They  deserve 


84  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

the  credit  of  keeping  tip  the  agitation  ;  and  it  is  only 
prejudiced,  Old-Hunker  conservatism  that  seeks  to  rob 
them  of  the  credit.  Of  course,  if  any  man  believes  that 
slavery  was  a  lawful  thing,  that  the  war  was  a  misfor- 
tune, let  him  pour  out  his  anathemas  upon  Garrison, 
Phillips,  and  the  rest;  but  let  not  any  man  who  believes 
that  slavery  was  the  sum  of  all  villanies,  malign  the 
brave  men  who  kept  up  the  conflict  against  such  fearful 
odds.  Yes,  and  the  brave  women  also  deserve  the  most 
honorable  mention. 

I  cannot  pass  from  this  point  without  a  word  for 
those  men  and  that  society.  Mr.  Garrison  was  the  most 
disinterested  man  I  ever  knew,  without  exception,  and 
as  true  as  steel.  He  was  not  an  orthodox  believer,  and 
little  wonder,  when  one  considers  the  pro-slavery  churches 
with  which  he  came  in  contact.  He  was  moral,  upright, 
true  to  his  purpose,  and  possessed  of  a  character  without 
reproach.  He  opened  the  meetings  of  the  Anti-Slavery 
Society  by  reading  the  Scriptures ;  and  he  read  them 
from  the  depths  of  his  soul,  with  a  power  I  have  yet  to 
hear  equalled.  He  then  called  upon  any  one  who  felt  so 
inclined,  to  lead  in  prayer.     Generally  some  one  did. 

I  would  like  also  to  say  a  word  of  Phillips,  one  of  the 
purest  of  men,  his  life,  so  far  as  known,  absolutely  with- 
out a  stain,  the  most  polished  man  in  private,  and  one 
of  the  most  genial  I  have  ever  known.  So  far  was  he 
the  greatest  orator  I  have  ever  heard,  that,  in  my  gal- 
lery, he  is  without  a  rival.  I  deny  that  he  was  vitupera- 
tive :  he  was  incapable  of  it.  His  indignation  against 
wrong  and  wrong-doers,  as  he  conceived  them,  was  deep 
and  burning,  his  scorn  of  time-servers  was  sublime,  his 
invective  was  terrible,  but  the  victim  always  deserved  it. 


PUBLIC  LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK.  85 

I  defy  any  one  to  point  to  a  single  instance  in  which  the 
thunderbolt  fell  upon  an  undeserving  subject.  I  heard 
him  lash  Edward  Everett  as  a  compromiser,  —  what  did 
that  mean  in  those  days  ?  A  compromise  with  slavery, 
a  compromise  of  liberty,  of  human  rights,  conserving 
human  bondage,  —  what  did  that  mean'?  After  the 
war  broke  out  I  heard  Everett,  in  the  greatest  speech 
he  ever  made,  two  hours  and  a  half  long,  in  the 
Academy  of  Music,  confess  his  error  in  these  words : 
"  And  I,  who  followed  too  long  the  path  of  compro- 
mise," etc.  The  lips  of  Wendell  Phillips  were  silent, 
or  only  opened  in  commendation  of  Edward  Everett, 
after  that. 

Infidel !  it  was  to  the  interest  of  men  that  tried  to 
throw  the  sanction  of  our  holy  religion  over  that  system 
that  sold  men  and  women  like  cattle,  that  separated 
husbands  and  wives  and  children,  that  refused  to  four 
millions  of  human  beings  the  lamp  of  knowledge,  the 
foulest  system  on  which  the  sun  ever  looked  down,  it 
was  to  the  interest  of  such  men  to  say  infidel ! 

Mr.  Phillips  once  told  me,  at  the  last  interview  I 
think  which  I  ever  had  with  him,  that  he  did  not  agree 
with  Theodore  Parker  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
"  Mine,"  he  said,  "  was  the  old  hereditary  faith  of  New 
England."  I  could  wish  that  he  had  been  more  decided 
in  this  particular.  His  love  of  liberty  led  him  too  far  in 
his  eulogies  of  O'Conncll,  and  in  his  sympathy  with  the 
Irish  Roman  Catholics  ;  but  take  him  for  all,  and  in  all, 
he  was  the  finest  product  of  American  civilization,  the 
noblest  American  that  has  yet  appeared. 


86  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

In  1862  Dr.  Sloane  was  invited  a  second  time  to 
deliver  the  address  before  the  literary  societies  of  his 
Alma  Mater,  Jefferson  College.  He  took  for  his  subject 
the  great  question  of  the  day,  defining  "  The  Three 
Pillars  of  the  Republic  "  to  be  Religion,  Law,  and  Lib- 
erty. Toward  the  close  of  his  speech,  when  calling 
upon  the  nation  to  free  its  slaves,  the  audience  began  to 
display  signs  of  dissatisfaction,  which  soon  developed 
into  active  disapproval,  shown  in  the  usual  way  by 
groans  and  hisses.  But  there  were  two  parties  in  the 
house,  and  his  supporters  at  last  gained  the  day  for  him. 
These  were  largely  students  of  the  college ;  and  the  tide 
of  approval  grew  stronger  and  stronger  under  the  lead- 
ership of  an  enthusiastic  young  Abolitionist,  now  Dr. 
John  R.  Paxton  of  New  York,  until  the  opposition  was 
altogether  overborne.  There  was  afterward  hot  discus- 
sion as  to  whether  the  society  before  which  the  address 
was  delivered  should  secure  it  for  publication.  The 
result  was  only  reached  after  repeated  sessions  ;  and  so 
intense  was  the  interest,  that,  when  the  speech  was 
published,  it  was  widely  read,  and  was  probably  the  most 
influential  of  all  his  anti-slavery  orations. 

This  chapter  could  not  perhaps  be  brought  to  a  close 
more  fittingly  than  by  the  tributes  spontaneously  paid 
to  his  work  and  memory  by  his  fellow-laborers  in  the 
cause  of  anti-slavery  reform.  The  writer  crossed  the 
ocean  in  1877,  on  the  steamship  "  Scythia,"  returning 
from  Liverpool  to  New  York.  Mr.  Garrison  was  one 
of  the  passengers.  In  the  lovely  September  weather 
he  was  constantly  on  deck,  and  in  the  activity  of  a  still 
vigorous  old  age  ever  ready  cither  for  a  long  walk  or  a 
long  talk.      Almost  daily  he   discoursed  with  an  inter- 


PUBLIC   LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK.  87 

ested  circle  of  friends,  both  of  the  present  and  the  past. 
He  spoke  repeatedly  and  at  length  of  Dr.  Sloane.  "  I 
remember  him,"  said  he,  ';  with  pleasure  and  respect. 
He  was  a  sound  reasoner,  a  powerful  speaker,  and  pos- 
sessed of  the  highest  moral  courage.  He  kept  alive  in 
us  a  regard  for  the  Church  in  its  purity.  We  were  too 
apt  to  forget,  in  observing  the  human  weakness  of  church 
members,  the  inherent  truth  and  power  of  their  princi- 
ples ;  but  we  never  forgot  it  in  his  presence.  I  recall 
him  as  one  of  our  most  valued  allies."  This,  and  much 
more,  he  said  of  a  nature  so  intimate  and  affectionate, 
that  it  seems  suited  rather  for  the  memory  and  tradition 
of  private  life  than  for  publication. 

It  is  not  often  given  to  war-worn  heroes  to  see  more 
than  the  physical  conclusion  of  then"  warfare.  There 
was  a  remarkable  exception  in  the  case  of  the  Abolition- 
ists. They  saw  the  moral  victory  won  with  a  thorough- 
ness that  left  nothing  to  be  desired.  In  the  great  nation 
to  which  they  belonged,  not  only  the  conquerors,  but 
the  conquered,  accepted  with  heartiness  and  sincerity 
the  great  moral  teachings  of  their  agitation.  They  them- 
selves enjoyed  respect  and  affection,  where  before  they 
had  known  but  obloquy  and  reproach.  Many  of  them 
are  gone  to  their  reward ;  but  among  those  that  linger 
in  the  enjoyment  of  a  placid  old  age  to  record  the  his- 
tories of  their  struggles  and  triumphs,  arc  two  of  the 
greatest,  —  Dr.  Cheever  and  Oliver  Johnson.  The 
former  wrote  of  him,1  — 

"It  is  with  profound  sadness  and  sorrow  that  I  hear 
of  the  death  of  Dr.  Sloane.  I  knew  his  worth,  as  a  man 
endowed  with  truth,  courage,  firmness,  and  divine  grace, 

1  In  The  Christian  Nation,  March  17,  1SS6. 


88  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

especially  throughout  the  agitating,  threatening,  and 
dreadful  period  from  1855  to  1861,  —  from  the  time 
of  the  Fugitive-slave  Law  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Re- 
bellion. It  was  a  period  covering  the  events  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  the  execution  of  John  Brown,  the  judicial  decision 
of  Chief  Justice  Taney  against  the  whole  colored  race, 
sealed  up  for  the  contemplation  of  ages  by  the  attack 
on  Fort  Sumter  and  the  battle  of  Bull  Bun.  No  more 
question  after  those  events,  but  either  our  destruction  as 
a  nation,  or  our  obedience  to  God's  Word. 

"  Dr.  Sloane  was  one  of  the  most  faithful  and  coura- 
geous opponents  of  slavery,  and  defenders  of  the  rights 
of  the  enslaved,  not  only  on  grounds  of  common  human- 
ity and  justice,  but  in  adherence  to  the  word  of  God,  and 
the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  I  remem- 
ber well  a  prayer-meeting  held  in  the  lecture-room  of 
the  Church  of  the  Puritans,  on  the  morning  of  the  day 
appointed  for  John  Brown's  execution.  Dr.  Sloane 
was  present,  and  among  others  was  asked  to  lead  the 
meeting  in  prayer.  '  You  must  excuse  me,  if  you 
please!'  exclaimed  he :  'I  am  too  mad  to  pray.'  He 
was  a  man  of  prayer,  but  his  soul  was  so  full  of 
anguish  and  indignation  that  he  could  not  trust  him- 
self to  speak.  The  meeting  was  intensely  solemn  and 
affecting. 

"  On  occasion  of  the  vast  assemblage  in  Cooper  Insti- 
tute, in  behalf  of  John  Brown's  widow  and  family,  he 
did  speak,  out  of  the  depths  of  righteousness  and  truth, 
in  the  midst  of  a  howling  mob,  with  a  severity  and  calm- 
ness of  rebuke,  and  a  demonstration  of  the  hideous  in- 
iquity of  slavery,  as  a  sin  against  God  and  man,  demand- 
ing immediate  abolition.     His  eloquence,  intrepidity,  and 


PUBLIC  LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK.  89 

fervor,  and  power  of  reasoning  and  rebuke,  commanded 
attention. 

"  lie  has  been  faithful  to  the  end,  always  a  religious 
leader  of  the  Abolitionists,  requiring  the  immediate  un- 
conditional abolition  of  slavery,  on  religious  grounds,  by 
the  Government,  for  the  people,  in  the  name  of  God,  to 
whom  alone,  and  to  whose  Word,  we  owe  all  our  bless- 
ings ;  to  whom  we  had  appealed  before  all  nations,  sol- 
emnly, in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  as  the  Author 
and  Giver  of  all  our  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness.  On  the  ground  of  that  appeal,  Dr.  Sloane 
demanded  abolition  as  required  by  our  own  Constitution, 
strictly  interpreted,  under  our  original  plea  and  promise 
of  National  Justice  and  Independence. 

"  In  these  views  he  was  in  harmony  with  the  demon- 
strations so  clearly  wrought  out  by  the  veteran  Aboli- 
tionist, William  Goodell,  the  editor  of  the  '  Principia,' 
in  the  powerful  little  volume  presented  by  him  to  Presi- 
dent Lincoln.  When  the  religious  history  of  the  War 
for  Freedom  shall  be  written,  it  will  be  seen  to  have 
been  God's  war,  and  God's  wisdom,  and  God's  mercy, 
not  man's." 

Mr.  Johnson's  testimony  to  his  power  is  marked  by  the 
same  affectionate  respect  and  admiration.     He  wrote.1  — 

"  The  recent  death  of  Professor  J.  R.  W.  Sloane  has 
been  widely  lamented,  not  only  in  the  religious  sect  to 
which  he  belonged,  and  of  whose  principles  he  was  an 
honored  representative,  but  in  the  whole  brotherhood  of 
Christian  denominations.  What  he  was  as  a  preacher 
and  a  theologian,  I  must  leave  others  to  testify:  but 
of  his  character  and  labors  as   an  Abolitionist,  I   may 

1  In  The  Christian  Nation,  March  IT,  1  - 


90  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 

fairly  claim  a  right  to  speak ;  and  I  do  so  with  great 
pleasure. 

';  My  acquaintance  with  Professor  Sloane  began  not 
long  after  the  enactment  of  the  last  Fugitive-slave  Law, 
which  statesmen  of  both  political  parties,  with  the  active 
co-operation  of  the  most  influential  pulpits  of  the  North, 
sought  to  enforce  for  the  salvation  of  the  Union  and  the 
overthrow  of  the  anti-slavery  agitation.  Those  were  dark 
days  for  the  men  who  had  a  conscience  against  slavery 
—  days  when  he  who  would  depart  from  the  evils  and 
crimes  of  that  blood-stained  institution  '  made  himself  a 
prey '  to  a  public  opinion  which  scoffed  at  the  rights  of 
man,  and  pleaded  the  authority  of  God  for  making  prop- 
erty of  his  image.  It  was  in  no  timid,  half-hearted  way 
that  Mr.  Sloane  lifted  up  his  voice  against  this  iniquity. 
He  openly  joined  the  Abolitionists,  and  went  eagerly  to 
then'  platform  at  a  time  when  he  knew  he  should  incur 
the  bitterest  opposition.  It  was  the  fashion  then  to  de- 
nounce Garrison  and  his  associates  as  infidels  and  blas- 
phemers, whose  real  purpose  was  the  destruction  of 
Christianity  and  civil  government ;  but  Mr.  Sloane,  know- 
ing these  accusations  to  be  false,  did  not  hesitate  to  come 
to  our  platform  as  often  as  we  needed  him,  and  give  us 
the  benefit  of  his  voice  and  influence.  Though  his  ortho- 
doxy was  of  the  John  Knox  type,  and  his  eye  for  heresy 
as  keen  as  that  of  any  other  man,  he  was  never  able  to 
detect  any  odor  of  infidelity  in  our  movement.  He  was 
at  home  among  us,  and  loved  to  be  there.  How  often 
he  came  to  the  anti-slavery  office,  and  how  vividly  do  I 
remember  now  our  earnest  talks  upon  the  great  subject 
in  which  we  were  so  deeply  interested!  His  courage 
and  hopefulness  were  unfailing.     He  never  counselled 


PUBLIC  LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK.  91 

compromise,  but  was  always  for  the  firmest  and  boldest 
measures. 

"  After  the  conflict  was  over,  he  was  always  happy  in 
remembering  the  course  he  had  taken.  In  1880, 
acknowledging  the  receipt  of  my  'William  Lloyd  Gar- 
rison and  his  Times,'  he  wrote,  '  Many  thanks  for  your 
good  and  true  book.  There  is  no  part  of  my  past  life 
that  I  contemplate  with  more  satisfaction  than  the 
period,  brief  though  it  was,  of  my  association  with  the  real 
Abolitionists.  I  am  perfectly  well  aware  of  the  small- 
ncss  and  insignificance  of  my  part  in  the  great  drama ; 
but  it  is  something  to  have  been  permitted  to  speak  a 
few  times  on  their  platform  the  thoughts  of  my  heart, 
and  to  have  seen  the  agonizing  contortions  of  the  mon- 
ster slavery.  I  have  often  said,  that,  of  all  the  men  I 
have  ever  seen,  Mr.  Garrison  was  the  most  unflinchingly 
true  to  his  moral  convictions.  I  feel  even  my  imperfect 
knowledge  of  him  to  have  been  an  inspiration  in  this 
particular.  I  said  all  this  and  much  more  to  my  theo- 
logical students  at  the  time  of  his  death.' 

"  I  count  it  among  the  great  privileges  of  my  life  that 
I  enjoyed  the  friendship  and  intimacy  of  this  good  and 
true  man  whose  noble  career  has  so  suddenly  closed." 


VI. 


BIOGRAPHICAL.— LIFE    IX   NEW    YORK  AND 
PITTSBURG. 

The  short  and  fragmentary  autobiographical  outline 
given  in  the  previous  chapters  was  written  in  letters,  at 
the  earnest  request  of  his  son,  during  the  two  last  years 
of  Dr.  Sloane's.  life,  in  the  intervals  of  a  period  which 
was  full  of  pain  and  suffering,  but  as  active  almost  as 
any  of  his  career.  It  was  never  intended  for  publica- 
tion, and  I  have  hesitated  about  giving  it  in  that  form  to 
his  friends  in  this  book.  But  it  is  of  general  interest 
in  the  vivid  representation  of  a  certain  phase  of  Ameri- 
can life,  and  of  particular  interest  to  friendly  readers 
because  of  many  personal  traits  of  the  writer  which  can 
be  read  both  in  and  between  its  lines,  being  quite  as 
notable  for  its  omissions  as  for  what  is  set  down. 

The  period  of  his  New- York  pastorate,  from  1856- 
1868,  was  altogether  the  most  important  in  our  national 
history.  It  included  the  Kansas  struggle,  the  Drcd 
Scott  decision,  the  panic  of  1857,  the  discovery  of  petro- 
leum, the  John  Brown  crusade,  the  election  of  Lincoln, 
the  acts  of  secession,  the  rebellion,  the  civil  war,  the 
emancipation  proclamation,  the  draft  riots  in  New 
York,  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  the  general  surren- 
der of  the  rebels,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  ltcconstruc- 

92 


LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK  AXD  PITTSBURG.  93 

tion  epoch.  In  short,  they  were  stirring  times,  the 
history  of  which  docs  not  belong  here  except  in  so  far 
as  it  influenced  the  thought  and  action  of  the  clergy- 
man who  ministered  to  the  Third  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  the  relations  of  that  congregation  to  him,  and 
the  effect  of  the  constant  high  pressure  at  which  he  lived 
in  bringing  out  qualities  which  might  otherwise  have 
lain  dormant. 

The  congregation,  though  small,  was  united  and  ener- 
getic. Taken  as  a  whole,  it  was  harmonious  ;  but  there 
were  not  lacking  those  elements  of  difference  in  opinion 
which,  to  say  the  least,  prevent  stagnation.  They  often 
taxed  severely  the  pastor's  tact  and  patience  ;  but  he 
recognized  in  them  the  certain  sign  of  earnestness  and 
life,  and  was  seldom,  if  ever,  discouraged  by  them. 
Whenever  he  needed  the  support  of  his  congregation  as 
a  whole, —  and  the  occasions  were  not  rare,  —  they  never 
failed  him.  Though  it  was  composed  in  great  part  of 
families  whose  means  were  moderate,  and  while  there 
was  comparatively  a  large  proportion  of  those  whose 
daily  work  earned  their  daily  bread,  there  were  also  a 
small  number  whose  income  considerably  exceeded  their 
expenses.  They  were  a  thrifty  and  self-respecting  peo- 
ple, and  from  the  beginning  gave  liberally  of  their 
means  and  systematically  to  support  their  pastor  and  his 
work  in  the  parish.  Their  regular  contributions  to  the 
charges  of  the  denomination,  to  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary, to  missions,  foreign  and  domestic,  to  the  funds  for 
church  sustentation,  and  other  minor  enterprises,  were, 
moreover,  no  mean  assistance  in  giving  their  pastor  from 
the  outset  a  position  of  influence  and  dignity  in  the 
councils  of  the  Church. 


94  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

The  early  work  of  Dr.  Sloane  was  largely  intellectual. 
In  his  labors  as  a  teacher,  in  the  speeches  he  delivered 
at  college,  and  during  his  residence  in  Ohio,  he  had 
been  primarily  a  scholar.  His  favorite  studies  were  in 
the  literature  of  the  ancient  tongues  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  and  of  his  own  language.  While  he  had  been 
everywhere  recognized  as  a  young  man  of  deep  emo- 
tional piety  and  high  spirituality,  yet  the  emphasis  of 
his  life  had  been  unconsciously  laid  on  the  intellectual 
and  rational  side,  anterior  to  his  arrival  in  New  York. 
It  was  therefore  of  the  utmost  importance  that  he  found 
in  the  audience  which  he  habitually  addressed,  a  people 
thoroughly  receptive  to  the  discussion  of  difficult  social 
and  theological  problems,  and  capable  of  appreciating 
their  relation  to  public  and  private  morality.  In  the 
families  of  his  elders  and  leading  men,  and  in  his  own 
pulpit,  he  was  sure  of  sympathy  in  every  attempt  to 
elucidate  the  difficult  problems  which  agitated  the  pub- 
lic mind  during  the  seething  period  of  his  ministry,  and 
in  every  discussion  of  the  abstract  principles  upon  which 
the  attitude  of  the  Covenanters  to  secular  government  is 
based.  Moreover,  they  were  a  courageous  people,  mor- 
ally and  physically,  and  undaunted  by  opposition,  which 
often  degenerated  into  spiteful  obloquy,  and  threats  of 
personal  violence.  Loyal  to  their  principles  and  their 
pastor,  he  found  his  hands  immeasurably  strengthened 
by  their  steadfast  affection,  and  never  failed  to  attribute 
to  them  their  full  share  in  his  work  as  a  speaker  and 
writer.  Their  support  was  invaluable,  and  the  relation 
he  sustained  to  them  among  the  most  effective  forms  of 
co-operation  conceivable.  He  never  failed  to  recognize 
it  in  public  or  private ;  and  in  later  years  the  memory 


LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK  AND  PITTSBURG. 

of  the  devotion  of  his  New- York  people  moved  him 
deeply,  as  he  recounted  to  his  younger  children  the 
thrilling  scenes  in  which  he  had  taken  part  during  his 
early  manhood. 

His  private  life  and  friendships  have  been  already 
outlined  by  his  own  hand.  There  was  open  to  him  the 
intellectual  and  social  field  of  association  which  only  a 
great  city  can  afford,  and  for  which  he  had  so  long  been 
yearning.  His  friends  and  companions  were  not  only 
the  intimate  acquaintances  of  his  own  church  and 
denomination,  but  the  leading  men  and  scholars  in  all 
professions  who  were  battling  in  the  cause  of  the  great 
anti-slavery  reform,  of  which  he  was  a  champion.  But 
he  neglected  neither  his  preaching  nor  his  pastoral  work. 
The  morning  hours  of  each  day  were  devoted  to  study ; 
but  every  afternoon,  with  few  exceptions,  found  him 
occupied  in  the  round  of  pastoral  visitation  which 
opened  almost  every  phase  of  city  life  to  his  experi- 
ence. Amid  all  the  calls  to  the  performance  of  many 
congenial  duties  outside  his  profession,  he  never  forgot 
the  high  vocation  which  he  had  chosen,  nor  its  jealous 
requirement  of  devotion.  By  a  careful  distribution  of 
time,  he  found  leisure  also  to  superintend  the  education 
of  the  son  and  nephew  who  were  at  first  his  only  house- 
hold care,  and  to  store  his  own  mind  with  the  treasures 
of  human  thought  laid  up  by  the  poets  and  philoso- 
phers of  the  ages. 

In  the  spring  of  1858  he  married  Miss  Margaret 
McLaren.  She  was  a  handsome  and  graceful  but  deli- 
cate woman.  She  had  many  attractive  traits  of  mind 
and  heart,  not  the  least  being  a  naive  humor  which 
made  her  an  agreeable  and  pleasant  companion.     The 


96  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

offspring  of  this  marriage  was  two  sons,  Donald  and 
Robert :  the  latter  died  in  infancy.  This  union  was 
like  a  brief  day  of  sunshine  ending  in  storm  and  dark- 
ness ;  for  in  1861  it  became  evident  that  the  mother's 
life  was  in  danger  from  consumption,  and  in  December 
of  the  same  year  she  died  at  her  father's  house  in 
Geneva,  N.Y. 

But  the  home  which  had  been  established  in  Twenty- 
second  Street,  after  many  years  of  boarding,  was  not 
broken  up.  His  congregation  had  built  a  new  and 
commodious  church  in  Twenty-third  Street,  and  was  so 
increased  in  numbers  and  influence,  that  a  fixed  resi- 
dence near  by  was  a  necessity  for  the  pastor.  The 
neighborhood  Avas  an  excellent  one,  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  quarter  which  had  once  been  the  village  of  Chelsea, 
and  is  still  known  to  old  New-Yorkers  by  that  name. 
The  years  passed  quietly  in  the  routine  of  pastoral 
work,  varied  by  the  steady  in  and  out  flow  of  guests 
which  forms  a  feature  in  the  life  of  every  city  clergy- 
man, and  by  the  ever-increasing  interest  and  impor- 
tance of  the  anti-slavery  movement,  until  New  York, 
like  the  rest  of  the  country,  was  roused  into  a  frenzy 
of  patriotism  by  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion. 

Dr.  Sloane  had  always  been  what  is  opprobriously 
termed  a  "  political  preacher,"  using  his  utmost  endeav- 
ors to  guide  his  congregation  to  just  views  of  the  im- 
portant questions  of  the  hour  that  were  pressing  for 
settlement.  His  sermons  during  the  war  were  in  that 
respect  the  most  effective  of  his  life,  and  gave  him  wide 
fame  as  a  preacher  and  speaker.  He  was  constantly 
called  on  to  repeat  in  the  pulpits  of  other  denomina- 
tions the   sermons   of  that  character  which   were  first 


LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK  AND  PITTSBURG.  97 

uttered  from  his  own  :  in  particular,  some  of  his  most 
ringing  utterances  in  behalf  of  liberty  and  union  were 
spoken  in  the  Church  of  the  Puritans  on  Union  Square, 
of  which  Dr.  Cheever  was  the  pastor.  Two  of  these  — 
that  in  reply  to  Dr.  Van  Dyke,  and  that  on  the  text 
from  the  prophet  Joel  —  are  given  in  this  volume.  His 
untiring  activity  as  a  friend  of  freedom  and  a  patriot  led 
him  often  into  situations  which  called  for  the  most  un- 
flinching moral  and  physical  courage.  One  such  has 
already  been  described  in  the  account  of  the  John 
Brown  meeting  by  his  own  pen. 

The  Draft  Act  was  passed  by  Congress,  and  became 
a  law  on  the  3d  of  March,  1863.  In  July  of  the  same 
year  occurred  the  draft  riots  of  Xew  York,  which,  from 
the  13th  to  the  16th  of  that  month,  overthrew  all  social 
order  in  that  city,  and  filled  its  streets  with  outrage  and 
violence.  Among  others,  the  neighborhood  of  Eighth 
Avenue  and  Twenty-third  Street  was  a  rallying-point 
for  the  rioters.  The  stables  of  the  Knickerbocker  Stage 
Company,  which  then  stood  on  the  north-west  corner, 
were  for  two  days  in  their  possession ;  and  from  them 
they  sallied  forth  on  their  errands  of  bloody  crime.  The 
Roman-Catholic  Irish,  from  whom  their  numbers  were 
largely  recruited,  were  infuriated  against  negroes  and 
negro  sympathizers,  as  they  considered  the  Abolitionists, 
because  they  attributed  the  war,  and  the  necessity  for 
military  service,  to  their  existence  and  agitations.  By 
destroying  the  railroads  and  telegraph-lines  where  they 
entered  the  city,  communication  with  the  outside  world, 
except  by  water,  was  cut  off.  All  the  regular  troops 
ordinarily  stationed  by  the  General  Government  in  or 
near  the  city,  and  most  of  the  militia,  were  away  at  the 


98  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

seat  of  war.  The  civil  authorities  were  helpless  and 
cowed,  and  the  only  protection  for  life  and  property 
was  in  the  noble  and  fearless  body  of  the  metropolitan 
police.  Their  numbers,  however,  were  utterly  insufficient 
to  cope  "with  the  awful  uprising  of  the  basest  and  vilest 
elements  of  the  populace.  The  mob,  therefore,  was 
scarcely  restrained  in  its  purpose  to  revenge  itself  on 
the  supposed  authors  of  its  dissatisfaction.  Negroes 
were  chased  for  their  lives  in  the  streets,  with  howls  of 
rage,  and  yells  of  execration.  When  caught,  they  were 
cruelly  abused,  and  in  several  instances  hung  to  a  near 
lamp-post ;  and  a  number  of  those  who,  out  of  compas- 
sion, interfered  to  save  the  unhappy  victims,  were  stoned 
or  shot  to  death. 

Dr.  Sloane  was  too  well  known  to  escape  attention ; 
and  twice,  at  least,  the  rioters  passed  his  door  in  search 
of  the  house  in  which  he  lived,  —  once  while  he  was  stand- 
ing at  the  window  of  his  study,  looking  down  upon  them. 
The  safety  of  his  person  and  property  was  due  to  the 
affection  of  his  neighbors,  who  kept  a  careful  watch,  and 
thwarted  the  efforts  of  the  insurgents  to  find  him.  On 
one  of  those  awful  days  they  came  as  near  in  their  in- 
quiries as  the  next  house,  but  were  sent  on  a  false  track 
by  the  misleading  statements  of  the  servant  who  opened 
the  door.  lie  was  entreated  by  his  friends  to  leave  the 
city ;  but  he  steadily  refused,  feeling  that  duty  in  the 
dread  uncertainty  of  such  a  crisis  kept  him  at  his  post 
among  the  congregation  to  whom  he  had  been  called  to 
minister.  Accordingly,  he  remained  there  during  the 
entire  time,  going  out  and  in  wherever  his  pastoral  labors 
called  him.  But  the  writer  remembers  well  the  old 
covered  express-wagon,  into  which  the  anxious  father 


LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK  AXD  PITTSBURG.  09 

put  his  son  on  the  first  afternoon,  and  had  him  driven 
through  quiet  and  obscure  streets  to  the  dock  of  the 
steamer,  to  be  conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety  among  his 
father's  kind  friends  at  Xewburg.  The  closed  shutters  of 
the  shops ;  the  unwonted  stillness  of  the  streets  in  the 
absence  of  all  traffic,  broken  only  by  the  too  loud  rum- 
bling of  the  shaky  old  vehicle  in  which  he  sat,  or  the 
distant  howls  which  seemed  all  too  near;  the  deserted 
sidewalks ;  the  absence  of  stages  and  street-cars ;  the  sus- 
picious glances  of  every  chance  passer-by,  —  all  united 
to  arouse  awe  and  terror  in  his  mind.  The  boat  was 
loaded  to  the  water's  edge  ;  and  scarcely  had  she  drawn 
out  a  few  hundred  feet  into  the  stream,  when  the  roar 
of  an  angry  multitude  was  heard  with  distinctness,  as  it 
drew  nearer  and  nearer.  As  it  gradually  filled  the  pier, 
the  scene  beggars  description.  The  men,  without  hats 
and  coats,  with  uncombed  hair,  and  frenzied  by  drink  and 
excitement,  waved  their  flaming  torches  in  the  air,  and 
sent  their  hoarse  cries  of  disappointed  rage  far  into  the 
calm  heaven,  and  across  the  ever-increasing  distance. 
The  women  tore  their  flying  locks,  and  rent  their  flimsy 
rags,  till  many  of  them  were  naked  to  the  waist,  and 
in  frantic  fury,  with  blood-shot  eyes,  added  their  shrill, 
brutal  screams  to  swell  the  tumult. 

The  closing  years  of  the  civil  war  were  full  of  hope 
and  confidence  for  the  future,  and  of  gratefulness  for 
the  swift  and  sure  completion  of  the  great  work  of  eman- 
cipation. The  labors,  too,  of  the  pastor  in  his  congre- 
gation had  been  constantly  blessed  in  its  increase  in 
numbers  and  influence.  His  life  seemed  to  have  opened 
upon  a  new  era  of  peace,  assured  by  the  course  of  public 
events,  as  well  as  by  private  circumstances.     In  January, 


100  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

1865,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Frances  Swan  wick,  the 
daughter  of  a  family  which  had  long  been  neighbors 
and  friends  of  his  father  in  Illinois.  She  continued  to 
be,  for  twenty  years,  his  faithful  and  helpful  companion, 
and  was,  in  his  declining  strength  and  in  the  hour  of 
death,  his  comfort  and  his  stay.  The  first  three  years 
of  their  married  life  were  spent  in  New  York,  where  a 
son  and  a  daughter,  who  died  in  infancy,  were  born  to 
them.  Three  other  children,  two  daughters  and  a  son, 
were  added  to  the  family  circle  during  their  subsequent 
life  in  Pittsburg. 

The  latter  years  of  the  New- York  pastorate  were  in 
a  sense  quite  as  active  as  the  earlier  ones.  As  ever, 
church  duties  were  made  paramount  to  all  other  obliga- 
tions. In  the  work  of  preaching,  he  had  attained  a 
fulness  of  knowledge,  and  certainty  of  expression,  which 
were  gradually  working  a  change  in  his  style  of  delivery. 
He  had  been  accustomed  to  writing  out  his  sermons 
with  care,  and  familiarizing  himself  with  the  result 
before  entering  the  pulpit,  and  to  use  a  rather  slow  and 
emphatic  mode  of  delivery.  Now  his  preparation  in 
reading  and  meditation  was  even  more  careful  than 
before  ;  but,  while  the  outline  and  some  special  passages 
were  written  out,  the  clothing  of  his  thoughts,  in  appro- 
priate and  adequate  language,  was  left  more  and  more 
to  the  inspiration  and  exigencies  of  the  hour  and  the 
audience.  The  result  was  happy ;  and  he  gained  dis- 
tinctly in  directness,  simplicity,  and  vigor.  The  fire  and 
energy,  the  ruggedness  and  force,  which  had  been  de- 
veloped in  the  days  of  anti-slavery  warfare,  remained,  I 
think,  always. 

The  first  point   of  Covenanter   testimony  had   been 


LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK  AXD  PITTSBURG.  101 

gained  in  the  abolition  of  slavery :  the  second  distinctive 
feature  of  their  work  —  the  abolition  of  national  in- 
fidelity —  still  remained  to  be  agitated  and  fought  for.1 
Dr.  Sloanc  at  once  turned  his  energies*  as  a  reformer  in 
that  then  natural  direction.  In  conjunction  with  able 
helpers,  from  his  own  and  other  denominations,  he  at 
once  began  to  assist  in  organization  and  agitation.  In 
these  he  labored  ceaselessly  and  untiringly  to  the  end, 
with  his  voice,  with  his  pen,  and  by  advice  and  money 
contributions  according  to,  and  often  beyond,  his  means. 
The  work  of  national  reform,  as  it  was  justly  named, 
took  at  once  the  place  that  had  been  occupied  by  anti- 
slavery  reform ;  and  in  it  he  wrought  with  even  more 
zeal  and  fervor. 

But  a  change  in  his  field  of  labor  was  impending. 
Dr.  Willson,  the  eminent  and  scholarly  professor  of 
systematic  theology  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterians,  at  Allegheny  City,  died  at  the 
zenith  of  his  power,  deeply  lamented  and  full  of  honor. 
For  many  years  Dr.  Sloane  had  occupied  an  important 
position  in  guiding  the  councils,  and  forming  the  policy. 
of  his  church,  and  was  in  many  directions  a  recognized 
leader.  He  had  entered  upon  theological  studies  through 
the  gateway  of  familiarity  with  the  ancient  tongues 
of  the  Bible  and  Scriptural  exegesis.  Many  therefore 
turned  to  him  as  a  fit  successor  to  the  office.  Accord- 
ingly, after  Dr.  S.  O.  Wylie  of  Philadelphia  had  dc- 

1  Referring  to  a  conference  with  himself,  hy  Dr.  Sloane  and  Dr.  Milligan, 
President  Lincoln  said,  shortly  before  his  assassination,  "I  know  these  Cov- 
enanters will.  They  have  made  two  demands  of  this  nation,  —  submission 
to  God,  and  freedom  for  the  slave.  One  of  tbeir  demands  has  been  granted 
during  my  first  administration  ;  and  perhaps,  during  my  second,  they  will 
obtain  the  other." 


102  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

clined  the  office,  lie  was  unanimously  elected.  In  the 
autumn  of  18G8  he  removed  with  his  family  to  a  new 
home. 

That  home  was'in  many  respects  the  attainment  of  a 
long-cherished  desire.  It  was  his  own :  it  was  virtually 
in  the  country  among  the  birds  and  flowers  he  loved  so 
much,  being  in  the  suburbs  of  Allegheny  City,  near  the 
banks  of  the  Ohio,  of  which  beautiful  river  there  was 
an  exquisite  view  from  the  hill  above  the  house.  In 
the  little  white  cottage  which,  after  his  visit  to  the 
English  lake-country,  he  often  compared  to  Words- 
worth's, embowered  among  creeping  rose-bushes,  and 
surrounded  by  the  fruit-trees  and  vineyards  which  the 
former  owner  had  planted,  he  spent  many  of  the  hap- 
piest years  of  his  life.  His  garden  was  a  never-failing 
source  of  pleasure  and  a  constant  recreation.  To  sit 
on  the  veranda  with  his  favorite  authors  about  him  in 
their  books,  and  commune  with  them  in  their  immortal 
thoughts,  gave  him  the  keenest  delight.  And  in  the 
wholesome  country  air  his  children  grew  up  amid  the 
excellent  society  of  the  neighborhood,  the  family  circle 
being  for  that  period  unbroken  by  death.  But  the 
highest  charm  of  that  home  was,  after  all,  the  close 
proximity  of  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  A.  M.  Milli- 
gan,  to  whom  as  a  brother,  not  only  by  marriage,  but  as 
a  noble  and  lofty  character,  with  splendid  power  as  a 
preacher  and  speaker,  he  was  devoted  in  the  tics  of  the 
closest  friendship.  They  had  been  fellow-workers  in 
the  anti-slavery  cause,  and  were,  until  parted  by  death, 
co-laborers  in  the  cause  of  all  reforms,  especially  in  the 
agitation  for  the  acknowledgment  of  God  in  the  Consti- 
tution.    Alike   in   many  respects,  these  brothers  were 


LIFE  IN  NEW  YORK  AND  PITTSBURG.  103 

yet  the  complements  one  of  the  other.  Their  only 
rivalry  was  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  the  work  of  their 
common  1VI aster.  Their  aggressive  campaigns  against 
iniquity  and  vice  in  every  form,  whether  in  high  places 
or  in  low,  made  them  widely  known  in  the  whole  com- 
munity. They  were  constantly  called  in  all  directions 
to  make  war  from  both  pulpit  and  platform  against 
intemperance  and  freemasonry  and  infidelity,  to  defend 
the  fundamental  positions  of  Christianity  against  athe- 
ism, and  to  explain  and  fortify  their  attitude  in  regard 
to  civil  government.  Dr.  Milligan  was  the  pastor  of 
the  large  and  influential  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Pittsburg ;  and,  after  a  few  years  devoted  solely  to 
the  work  of  his  professorship,  Dr.  Sloane  accepted,  in 
addition  to  his  chair,  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Allegheny  City. 

It  had  been  with  feelings  of  the  deepest  regret  that 
he  left  behind  his  friends  and  his  work  in  New  York. 
The  memories  of  that  time,  of  the  devotion  of  his  con- 
gregation, of  the  opportunities  for  study,  and  the  incen- 
tives to  high  thinking,  which  it  afforded,  and  of  the 
avenues  opened  for  labor  in  an  extended  sphere  which 
a  great  metropolis  alone  can  offer,  were  lasting,  and,  as 
regards  the  development  of  his  mind  and  character, 
determinative.  But  the  community  in  and  about  Pitts- 
burg was  also  a  congenial  one,  and  his  work  as  a 
teacher  in  some  respects  the  best  suited  to  his  tastes 
and  capacity.  But  the  annals  of  his  life  during  its 
closing  years  were,  on  the  whole,  uneventful.  Their 
interest  is  not  a  dramatic  one,  but  consists  in  his  rela- 
tions to  the  church  as  the  teacher  of  its  ministry  and  an 
adviser  in  its  councils   on  the   one   hand,  and  on   the 


104  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

other,  in  his  labor  as  a  reformer  in  a  cause  which  was 
at  first  misunderstood,  but  by  slow  progress  made  its 
way  among  Christian  people  until,  although  not  yet 
successful,  it  had  gained  before  his  death  powerful 
adherents  and  a  cordial  recognition  where  at  first  all 
seemed  dark  and  hopeless.  These  were  the  triumphs 
of  his  mature  life;  but,  without  attempting  to  outline 
their  course,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  call  attention  to  a 
few  events  of  more  than  ordinary  importance  to  himself. 

Foremost  among  these  were  two  journeys  to  Europe. 
When  the  plan  for  the  formation  of  a  general  council 
of  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  the  world  was  proposed, 
it  met  with  his  hearty  approval ;  and  he  was  appointed  a 
delegate  to  the  preliminary  conference  in  London,  which 
met  in  July,  1875.  The  first  general  council  regularly 
organized  met  at  Edinburgh  in  1876,  and  to  that  he  was 
also  sent  as  the  representative  of  the  Covenanters  in 
America.  He  made  an  address  in  the  Regent-square 
Church  in  London,  and  a  formal  speech  on  the  subject 
of  intemperance  before  the  council  in  Edinburgh.  An 
outline  of  the  latter  is  given  in  this  volume  :  unfortu- 
nately, the  manuscript  is  lost ;  and  the  report  does  no 
justice  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  speech,  which  was  con- 
sidered by  many  as  the  most  powerful  he  ever  made. 

In  the  course  of  these  two  journeys  he  visited  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  Ireland,  Belgium,  Germany,  Switzerland, 
and  France.  In  themselves  they  did  not,  of  course, 
differ  from  the  tour  which  is  no  longer  an  extraordinary 
one  for  many  Americans,  and  is  to  most  of  them  com- 
monplace; but  for  Dr.  Sloanc,  there  was  nothing  but  the 
keenest  enjoyment.  In  the  first  place,  he  met  in  inti- 
mate association  the  most  distinguished  clergymen    of 


LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK  AXD  TITTSBURG.  105 

the  great  Presbyterian  Church,  and  came  in  contact  with 
their  people  in  the  frequent  preaching  and  speaking 
which  occupied  much  of  his  time  in  Great  Britain.  His 
work  was  so  acceptable  to  one  of  the  Presbyterian 
churches  of  London,  that  he  was  asked  if  he  would  con- 
sider a  call.  In  the  second  place,  his  mind  was  so  stored 
with  literary  allusions  and  historic  associations,  that  the 
places  he  visited  seemed  to  supply  to  the  ideal  forms 
already  in  his  mind  those  concrete  and  substantial  ex- 
periences which  make  knowledge  complete  and  real. 
Nothing  could  exceed  his  ardor  as  a  sight-seer,  or  the 
industry  with  which  he  substituted  in  every  memory  the 
reality  of  vision  for  the  imaginings  which  had  formed 
the  scenes  of  history  and  letters.  It  is  not  possible  to 
exaggerate  the  charm  these  journeys  had  for  him,  nor 
their  helpfulness  in  his  work  as  a  teacher,  not  to  speak 
of  the  lovely  memories  which,  in  failing  strength,  were 
a  constant  joy  in  times  devoted  to  compulsory  inactivity. 
Another  illustration  of  the  interesting  phases  of  his 
life  in  Pittsburg  will  be  found  in  a  class  of  incidents  of 
which  the  following  is,  perhaps,  the  most  striking.  On 
a  visit  to  the  neighboring  town  of  Newcastle,  he  had  ex- 
cited the  opposition  of  a  distinguished  clergyman,  Dr. 
D.  X.  Junkin,  by  his  views  on  civil  government.  The 
latter  agitated  the  question  so  thoroughly  in  the  com- 
munity, that  at  last  a  challenge  was  issued  by  three  gen- 
tlemen of  Newcastle, — the  Rev.  W.  Cowden,  pastor  of 
the  Church  of  the  Disciples  ;  E.  S.  Durbin,  editor  of"  The 
Newcastle  Courant ; "  and  R.  II.  McComb,  a  leading  law- 
yer, —  to  an  extended  debate  of  four  days  on  the  vexed 
question.  The  challenge  was  accepted  by  three  Cove- 
nanter clergymen,  —  David  M'Allister,  A.  M.  Milligan, 


106  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

and  J.  H.  "YV.  Sloane.  The  scene  during  the  four  days 
from  Dec.  2  to  5  inclusive,  in  which  there  were  no  less 
than  twenty-six  hours  of  constant  talking,  —  about  four 
to  each  of  the  debaters, — is  described  by  an  eye-witness 
as  one  of  intense  interest.  The  audience  was  large  and 
attentive  from  the  first,  and  increased  every  day  in  num- 
bers, until  there  was  no  room  large  enough  to  hold  it. 
The  country-side  for  thirty  miles  around  was  represented, 
and  the  entire  community  stirred  to  excitement.  The 
question  was  formally  stated  in  these  words :  "  Resolved, 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  be  so  amended 
as  to  acknowledge  Almighty  God  as  the  Author  of 
national  existence,  and  the  ultimate  Source  of  all  power 
and  authority  in  civil  government,  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
ruler  of  nations,  and  the  Bible  as  the  fountain  of  law 
and  the  supreme  rule  for  the  conduct  of  nations."  The 
fire  of  the  whole  debate  was  tempered  by  courtesy,  and 
its  dignity  heightened  by  the  well-known  men  who  at- 
tended to  sit  on  the  platform  or  preside.  At  its  close  a 
statement  was  drawn  up  declaring  the  conclusion  of  the 
debaters  on  the  negative  side  —  that  is,  the  challengers' 
—  to  be,  That  civil  government  is  of  God,  as  it  is  grounded 
in  the  nature  of  man  as  he  came  from  his  Creator's  hand, 
a  social  being ;  that  after  the  fall,  a  revelation  from  God 
was  necessary,  and  that  that  revelation  is  found  in  the 
Bible ;  that  the  sovereignty  lodged  in  the  people  is  de- 
rived from  God.  Of  course,  this  was  a  substantial  admis- 
sion of  the  premises  of  those  who  upheld  the  question, 
though  not  of  their  conclusion. 

There  are  three  theological  seminaries  of  as  many 
different  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Alle- 
gheny City;  viz.,  of  the  Presbyterians,  the  United  Pres- 


LIFE  IX  NEW  YORK  AXD  PITTSBURG.  107 

bytorians,  and  the  Reformed  Presbyterians.  They  sus- 
tain the  most  agreeable  relations  to  each  other,  and  make 
common  cause  against  all  assaults  on  the  body  of  com- 
mon principles  held  by  them  all.  There  is,  of  course,  a 
pleasant  interchange  of  courtesy  among  the  professors. 
In  this  way  Dr.  Sloane  was  brought  into  contact  with 
stimulating  society :  in  particular,  he  was  intimate  with 
Dr.  Cooper  and  Dr.  Archibald  Hodge.  The  friendship 
of  the  latter  was  among  the  most  cherished  of  his  life- 
time. There  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pittsburg,  as  is 
well  known,  a  large  population  of  Germans,  many  of 
them  earnest  evangelical  Christians,  but  many  exactly 
the  reverse.  In  1883  the  latter  were  very  active  ;  and 
to  counteract  their  efforts,  Dr.  Scovel,  pastor  of  the  oldest 
and  most  influential  Presbyterian  church,  arranged  a 
course  of  lectures  for  the  purpose  of  expounding  the 
Christian  doctrine  with  regard  to  the  vexed  questions  of 
the  day.  They  were  delivered  by  the  strongest  men 
among  the  pastors  and  professors  in  Pittsburg.  An 
outline  of  Dr.  Sloane's  paper  on  "  Theories  of  Evolution  " 
is  given  in  this  volume.  The  distinctive  feature  of  the 
evening  on  which  he  spoke,  was  the  debate  which  fol- 
lowed his  speech,  in  which  the  foremost  opponents  of 
his  views  spoke  from  the  audience,  and  he  replied  from 
the  platform.  The  event  attracted  wide-spread  atten- 
tion, and  was  considered  as  one  of  the  most  important 
in  a  sustained  discussion,  which  the  community  estimated 
at  a  high  value.  Full  reports  of  the  entire  course  were 
given  in  the  newspapers  of  the  time. 

The  first  symptoms  of  declining  strength  appeared  in 
1883,  and  in  1884  Dr.  Sloane  was  near  death  The  fol- 
lowing passage  from  a  letter  he  wrote  at  that  time  is 


108  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

given  as  characteristic  of  his  mind :  "I  have  not  walked 
these  past  weeks  on  mountain  heights ;  rather,  in  the 
valley  of  humiliation.  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  been 
traversing  the  land  of  Beulah ;  nevertheless,  I  do  feel 
thankful  for  the  peace  of  mind  which  I  have  realized, 
the  trust  which  I  have  been  enabled  to  put  in  the  good- 
ness of  a  covenant  God,  and  the  freedom  from  anxiety 
concerning  things,  either  temporal  or  spiritual,  which  I 
have  felt.  How  inexpressibly  strengthening  and  com- 
forting have  I  found  even  a  weak  faith,  as  I  have  trav- 
ersed this  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  !  and  how  hum- 
bling and  yet  how  consoling  has  been  the  knowledge 
that  the  prayers  of  so  many  of  God's  children  were  as- 
cending to  the  throne  of  Grace  on  my  behalf!  Not  to 
every  one  would  I  be  willing  to  say  even  this  much,  — 
'  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  Him.' " 

The  year  following,  he  gathered  sufficient  strength  so 
that  his  labors  as  professor  were  not  interrupted.  His 
last  public  address  was  the  memorial  sermon  he  deliv- 
ered in  the  autumn  of  1885,  on  the  character  and  work 
of  his  brother,  Dr.  Milligan.  On  Friday,  March  6,  1886, 
the  day  before  his  death,  he  continued  his  uninterrupted 
work  of  teaching  by  lecturing  to  his  classes  in  his  own 
study ;  and  on  the  following  morning,  before  daybreak, 
he  died  in  sleep. 


TIL 

COXCLUSIOX.— ESTIMATES    OF    WORK  AXD 
CHARACTER. 

It  must  be  clear  to  every  reader  of  the  preceding 
pages,  that  the  man  whose  life  is  outlined  in  them,  was 
active  as  a  preacher,  teacher,  and  reformer.  But  it  is 
also  clear,  that  these  activities  were  so  interwoven  one 
with  the  other,  that  each  strengthened  and  comple- 
mented the  other.  The  final  value  of  every  man's  work 
is,  of  course,  fixed  only  after  the  lapse  of  time  ;  but  the 
nearest  approximation  to  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  esti- 
mate put  upon  it  by  his  fellow-laborers.  Accordingly, 
since  the  writer  can  not  and  would  not  attempt  an 
analytical  examination  of  his  father's  work  and  charac- 
ter, it  may  be  permitted  him  to  gather  a  few  of  the  lov- 
ing tributes  paid  by  those  who  were  not  connected  with 
the  family  by  blood  or  marriage.  They  are,  of  course, 
animated  by  warm  affection  ;  but  it  is  hoped  that  they 
contain  much  that  would  be  accepted,  even  by  enemies. 
Many,  if  not  all  of  them,  have  already  appeared  in 
print ; l  but  they  are  collected  here  as  a  fitting  conclusion 
to  these  introductory  pages,  in  the  hope  of  giving  them 
greater  permanence  and  accessibility  than  can  be  af- 
forded by  the  files  of  either  religious  or  secular  journals. 

1  The  Christian  Nation,  New  York,  March  31,  1SS0. 

109 


110  CONCLUSION". 

"  He  was  a  representative  man.  We  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  remember  him  as  such.  But  we 
are  not  alone :  men  outside  of  our  church  are  one  with 
us  in  this.  Last  night,  when  I *  announced  his  death  in 
a  ministerial  circle  of  this  city,  I  was  impressed  with  the 
way  in  which  it  was  received.  I  do  not  remember  all 
that  was  said,  but  I  can  give  you  the  remarks  of  four 
of  those  who  spake  of  him.  They  expressed  one  senti- 
ment. A  man  of  his  own  age  said, '  He  was  the  strong 
man  in  your  church.'  Another  man,  older  than  he, 
said,  '  He  was  a  representative  man,  and  he  has  fallen 
in  the  prime  of  life.'  Another  man  —  a  man  prominent 
in  one  of  our  New- York  educational  institutions  —  said, 
'  He  was  one  of  the  foremost  scholars  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church.'  Another  minister  —  a  young  man 
in  one  of  our  most  prominent  churches  —  said,  '  He  was 
a  power  in  this  city  during  the  war,  and  a  royal  leader 
of  thought.  In  those  days  I  was  a  student  at  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  and  a  deep-dyed  Aboli- 
tionist ;  and  Dr.  Sloane  was  a  man  after  mine  own  heart. 
Dr.  Cheever  and  he  were  the  two  men  in  the  pulpit  of 
New  York  during  those  trying  times,  who  dared  to 
speak  for  the  cause  of  abolition.  They  were  great 
factors  in  its  triumph.  I  have  among  my  most  valu- 
able papers,  carefully  filed  away,  a  sermon  which  he 
preached  in  Dr.  Chcevcr's  church,  on  "  The  Character 
and  Influence  of  Abolitionism."  These  are  disinter- 
ested utterances.  These  are  testimonies  and  eulogies 
from  the  outside.  They  were  made  impromptu,  and, 
therefore,  express   convictions  deep  and  settled,  in  the 

1  Kev.  David  G-regg,  then  pastor  of  the  Third  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  New  York,  now  of  the  Park-street  Congregational  Church,  Boston. 


ESTIMATES  OF  WORK  AXD  CHARACTER.  Ill 

minds  of  those  who  uttered  them.  Such  testimonies 
as  these,  show  that  he  was  recognized  as  representing 
great  causes  which  pertained  to  the  interests  of  human- 
ity at  large.  Yet,  while  he  identified  himself  with 
great  public  causes,  he  always  did  so  as  a  Reformed 
Presbyterian.  When  Daniel  was  in  Babylon  occupying 
high  places  in  the  kingdom,  and  doing  deeds  there 
which  won  universal  admiration,  he  always  let  it  be 
known  that  he  was  a  Jew.  Thus  he  honored  his  na- 
tion, and  the  God  of  his  nation.  Even  so,  when  Pro- 
fessor Sloane  made  his  power  felt  upon  the  platform, 
and  rose  above  himself  and  matched  the  occasion,  he 
let  it  be  known  that  he  was  a  Covenanter,  and  the  son 
of  a  Covenanter ;  and  that  he  championed  the  cause 
which  he  did  because  he  had  been  taught  to  do  so  by 
the  Church  of  his  fathers.  Thus  he  put  honor  upon  the 
Covenanter  Church,  and  the  God  of  the  Covenanter 
Church. 

"  The  appointments  which  he  received  from  the 
Church,  establish  his  character.  He  died  in  the  pro- 
fessor's chair,  a  representative  post.  We  looked  up  to 
him  as  a  leader  in  our  church  courts.  He  represented 
us  in  the  councils  of  the  different  religious  bodies  to 
which  we  sent  delegates.  He  was  our  delegate  to  the 
Presbyterian  Council  in  Edinburgh,  and  preached  in 
the  old  Greyfriars  Church  amid  the  memories  of  Cov- 
enanter scenes  which  stir  the  blood.  Upon  the  plat- 
form of  the  council,  he  rang  out  the  old  Covenanter's 
cry  on  the  burning  question  of  the  day,  —  the  question 
of  Temperance.  I  can  scarcely  recall  any  great  occasion 
in  our  church,  during  my  time,  when  he  did  not  stand 
in  the  prominent  place,  and   perform   the   prominent 


112  CONCLUSION-. 

task.  He  was  a  host  in  himself,  and  distinctively  a 
man  for  occasions.  On  occasions  he  never  disappointed 
us,  nor  betrayed  the  trusts  of  the  Church  committed  to 
him.  He  was  large  and  commanding  in  his  physical 
person.  This  made  his  presence  a  power  the  moment 
he  stepped  upon  the  platform. 

"  We  must  also  pay  homage  to  his  personal  character. 
This  is  the  greatest  attribute  and  quality  in  any  man. 
A  noble  character  is  a  reflector  put  behind  the  truth 
which  we  advocate,  and  it  intensifies  its  force  beyond 
estimate.  Professor  Sloane's  character  was  a  moral 
reflector  of  great  power.  With  him  purity  of  purpose 
blended  with  commanding  talents.  While  he  possessed 
the  eloquence  of  the  scholar  and  orator,  he  joined  to 
it  the  eloquence  of  a  true  life.  Genuine,  and  free  from 
superficiality,  his  life  courted  the  sunshine,  and  grew  in 
reputation  the  more  the  light  searched  it.  We  do  not 
claim  that  he  was  perfect ;  but  we  believe  that  he  was 
what  he  professed  to  be,  and  that  he  acted  his  true 
self." 

"  I  hoped  to  read  and  to  hear  for  years  yet  his  stirring 
words  for  the  reform  which  contains  all  other  reforms.1 
Workers  in  this  cause  may  well  exclaim,  '  My  father, 
my  father,  the  chariot  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen 
thereof! '  Who  so  wise  in  council,  and  so  fearless  in 
utterance !  Who  so  thoroughly  furnished  unto  every 
good  work  which  a  cause  that  must  still  find  its  majority 
by  being  one  with  God,  demands ! 

"  Early  struggles  with  determined  and  dominant  evil 
had  left  him  as  firm  as  granite,  and  yet  as  generous  and 

1  President  S.  P.  Seovel,  University  of  Wooster. 


ESTIMATES  OF  WORK  AND  CHARACTER.  113 

warm-hearted  as  only  an  opponent  for  the  sake  of  right 
and  truth  can  be.  lie  was  a  noble  specimen  of  what  a 
Covenanter's  faith  and  a  scholar's  culture  and  a  gentle- 
man's instincts  can  do  in  making  a  man.  Large  experi- 
ence, and  strong  faith  in  God,  made  him  hopeful;  while 
thorough  knowledge  of  human  nature  made  him  watch- 
ful, and  never  over-sanguine. 

"  But  few  men  in  any  generation  make  such  an  impres- 
sion upon  all  who  know  them  in  the  greater  traits  of 
character.  I  counted  it  always  a  joy  that  common  con- 
victions brought  me  to  the  knowledge  of  him,  and  can 
wish  no  greater  blessing  for  our  cause,  than  that  many 
of  the  vigorous  young  men  who  have  passed  under  his 
instructions  may  grow  to  be  like  him,  and  that  amid  the 
future  difficulties  we  may  find  many  imbued  with  his 
spirit,  and  striking  the  waters  with  his  mantle." 

"  I  like  to  think  of  Dr.  Sloane  as  a  man ; 1  possessing 
those  elements  of  character  that  constitute  true  manli- 
ness. Often  has  he  said  to  me,  that  there  are  few  men 
within  the  range  of  our  acquaintance  that  have  that 
well-rounded  character  that  lifts  them  up  to  the  stand- 
ard of  the  ideal  man.  They  may  have  talents,  virtues, 
and  graces  of  a  high  order,  but  they  lack  that  equipoise, 
that  completeness  of  character,  that  is  essential  to  the 
model  man.  In  Dr.  Sloane,  whom  I  knew  so  well,  I 
found  a  man  who  approximated  nearer  to  this  high 
standard  than  any  one  I  ever  knew.  Humble,  generous, 
gentle  as  a  little  child,  he  yet  possessed  the  command- 
ing presence,  the  dignity  and  royalty,  of  a  prince.     He 

1  Rev.  J.  R.  Thompson  of  the  Westminster  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  Newburg,  X.Y. 


114  CONCLUSION. 

was  incapable  of  meanness,  trickery,  or  unfair  dealing, 
even  with  an  enemy  ;  perfectly  candid,  open,  and  bold 
in  the  declaration  and  maintenance  of  his  position ;  and 
also  generous  and  benevolent,  at  times  often  to  his  own 
temporary  loss.  In  his  removal  the  world  has  lost  a 
man  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word.  The  sweet  fra- 
grance of  his  pure  manhood  will  linger  in  the  church 
and  in  society,  like  that  of  the  rose  when  removed 
from  the  vase,  long  after  his  precious  remains  are  com- 
mitted to  the  kindred  dust. 

"  I  like  also  to  think  of  Dr.  Sloane  as  a  Christian. 
After  thirty  years  of  intimacy  with  him,  I  can  intelli- 
gently bear  testimony  to  his  personal  piety,  to  his  con- 
sistent Christian  life,  and  to  his  entire  consecration  to 
his  Master  and  his  Master's  cause.  If  '  a  Christian  is 
the  highest  style  of  a  man,'  then  our  departed  brother 
has  reached  that  high  eminence.  lie  was  '  a  good  man, 
full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  He  manifested 
that  Christian  character  that  is  the  best  qualification  for 
duty,  the  best  certificate  for  a  position,  and  the  choicest 
legacy  a  man  can  leave  to  his  children.  As  the  rare 
touches  and  coloring  of  the  masters  attest  the  unrivalled 
paintings  that  have  come  from  their  hands,  so  the  Chris- 
tian character  of  Dr.  Sloane  has  left  an  impress  upon 
the  church  that  will  remain  a  distinct  and  indelible 
witness  for  many  generations  to  come. 

"  Again,  I  like  to  think  of  him  as  a  minister  of  Christ, 
a  Christian  worker,  a  reformer  who  kept  abreast  of 
every  good  work.  He  was  a  man  who  ever  felt  that  he 
held  in  his  hand  a  commission  from  the  Lord ;  one 
whose  eloquence  as  a  preacher  was  unquestioned ; 
whose    fitness    as    an   instructor   of    the    sons    of    the 


ESTIMATES  OF  WORK  AND  CHARACTER.  115 

prophets  is  attested  by  those  that  sat  under  him  in  the 
theological  seminary ;  whose  prominence  as  a  leader  in 
the  reform  questions  of  the  day  was  widely  recognized  ; 
and  whose  love  to  the  church  was  most  intense.  In  the 
pulpit,  on  the  platform,  and  everywhere,  he  was  a  fear- 
less champion  of  the  right.  Gentle  and  cautious,  yet, 
when  the  occasion  demanded,  bold  as  a  lion.  It  may 
be  truly  said  of  him,  as  was  said  of  his  great  prototype, 
'  There  lies  one  that  never  feared  the  face  of  man.' " 

"  I  have  always  regarded  it  one  of  the  chiefest  honors 
and  gratifications  of  my  life,1  that  for  the  last  seventeen 
years  I  have  been  admitted  to  the  confidential  friendship 
of  Dr.  Sloane.  "We  were  brought  together  by  family 
connections  as  soon  as  he  assumed  his  office  as  professor 
in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
Allegheny  City,  Penn.  The  similarity  of  our  offices 
in  two  sister  Presbyterian  theological  schools,  community 
of  principles,  and  personal  sympathy,  held  us  together 
with  increasing  intimacy  from  that  time  to  the  end. 
It  was  my  great  pleasure  to  have  crossed  the  ocean 
with  him  twice,  and  to  have  witnessed  with  admiration 
the  prominent  position  he  assumed,  and  the  excellent 
influence  he  exerted,  in  the  first  two  general  councils  of 
the  Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches. 

"  I  judge  him  to  have  been,  in  the  whole  circle  of  his 
powers  and  aptitudes,  one  of  the  strongest  men  I  have 
ever  known.  He  was,  of  course,  thoroughly  loyal  to  the 
special  doctrines  and  testimonies  of  his  own  church. 
Indeed,  it  was  evident  that  he  was  the  one  pre-eminent 
champion  of  the  pure   traditions  of  Reformed  Prcsby- 

1  The  late  Professor  A.  A.  Hodge  of  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary. 


116  COXCLUSIOX. 

terianism  left  in  either  Scotland,  Ireland,  or  America. 
Nevertheless,  his  intellect  and  his  culture  were  singu- 
larly broad,  as  well  as  his  religious  sympathies.  He 
loved  unfeignedly  all  who  loved  and  served  in  any 
manner  his  Lord  and  Saviour.  Especially  he  heartily 
sympathized  with  all  of  every  denomination  who  re- 
mained intelligently  faithful  to  the  doctrines  and  meth- 
ods of  the  Reformed  Churches.  His  synoptical  vision 
took  in  the  whole  Church  and  all  its  activities,  the 
entire  circle  of  theological  literature  and  controversy; 
and  this  sympathy  was  always  upon  the  side  of  a  wise 
and  truly  learned  conservative  orthodoxy. 

"  Besides,  he  united  in  a  very  unusual  degree  the  pow- 
ers and  the  acquirements  necessary  to  qualify  him  for 
the  three  distinct  offices  of  a  preacher,  a  teacher,  and 
an  ecclesiastical  leader.  In  each  of  these  independ- 
ent spheres  he  was  conspicuously  pre-eminent.  As  a 
preacher,  he  was  one  of  the  foremost  among  all  the 
churches. 

"  As  a  teacher  practised  in  the  whole  circle  of  the 
theological  sciences,  he  had  no  superior,  and  few  equals. 
As  a  church  leader  he  had  no  equal  anywhere.  In  his 
own  denomination,  his  wise  counsel,  his  impelling 
energy ;  his  inspiring  presence,  rapidly  transferred  to 
the  most  distant  points  of  the  field ;  his  noble  presidency, 
always  communicating  momentum,  and  giving  assurance 
of  victory,  —  were  of  absolutely  inestimable  value.  And 
for  years,  with  ungrudging  self-devotion,  he  threw  all 
the  strength  of  his  powerful  body,  and  all  the  resources 
of  his  mind  and  heart,  into  his  work.  To  every  compe- 
tent witness,  the  exhibition  of  inexhaustible  force,  and 
the  amount  of  work   actually  achieved,  were  amazing. 


ESTIMATES  OF  WORK  AND  CHARACTER  117 

And  now  the  inevitable  result  has  been  reached.  Abso- 
lutely exhausted,  worn  out  in  the  service  of  the  church 
he  loved,  he  falls  asleep.  This  is  the  evident  result  as 
to  the  natural  man.  But  the  spiritual  man  has  been 
promoted  from  his  faithful  stewardship  on  earth  to  a 
proportionate  reward  in  the  King's  house.  lie  has  left 
a  place  which  no  successor  can  fill:  and  with  it  he  has 
left  a  gracious  memory,  which  the  Church  will  never 
allow  to  fade  ;  and  an  inspiring  example,  which  will 
remain  as  an  ever-living  force,  and  bear  fruit  forever. 
Laus  Deo ! " 


"  My  line  of  thought,  in  the  discourse  I  gave  before 
the  synod,  was  in  brief  as  follows  :  *  1.  His  devotion  to 
truth  and  justice  for  their  own  sake.  2.  His  full  and 
firm  conviction  that  truth  and  right  are  sure  to  win. 
3.  His  courage  and  self-sacrifice.  He  did  not  think  of 
consequences  to  himself,  or  of  dangers,  even  so  mena- 
cing as  not  to  be  ignored.  They  did  not  swerve  him  a 
hair's-breadth  from  the  path  of  duty.  4.  His  Christian 
patriotism,  —  an  intense  longing  and  ceaseless  striving 
for  his  country's  weal.  5.  The  religious  character  of 
his  zeal  in  reform-work  ;  the  recognition  of  all  duty,  as 
Kant  gives  it,  as  a  divine  commandment.  I  could  not 
forbear  quoting  the  words  which  Shakspeare  puts  in 
the  mouth  of  Wolsey,  to  his  servant  Cromwell,  as  ever 
in  his  mind,  —  a  command  from  Christ  himself:  — 

"  '  Be  just,  and  fear  not  j 
Let  all  the  ends  thou  aims't  at  be  thy  country's, 
Thy  God's,  and  truth's.'  " 

1  Professor  David  McAllister  of  Geneva  College. 


118  CONCLUSION. 

It  may  be  permitted  to  close  this  chapter,  composed 
so  largely  of  eulogium,  by  a  few  words  from  the  subject 
of  it,  pronounced  in  the  sermon  already  referred  to,  on 
the  life  and  work  of  a  friend  and  brother.  "  We  have 
not  designed  to  draw  a  sketch  of  a  perfect  man,  but  of 
one  who,  like  others,  was  compassed  with  infirmity,  who 
was  conscious  of  sin,  but  who  sought  forgiveness  through 
the  blood  of  Christ." 


\ 


ADDRESSES  AND  A  SERMON 
ON   SLAVERY. 


SLAVERY  m  CHURCH  AND   STATE. 

1857. 


In  consenting  to  take  part  in  the  discussions  of  this 
interesting  and  important  occasion,  I  am  not  merely 
lending  a  willing  compliance  to  the  invitation  of  your 
"  Executive  Committee  ;"  but  acting,  as  I  trust,  under  an 
imperative  sense  of  duty,  and  in  obedience  to  the  com- 
mand of  Him  who  has  said,  "  Open  thy  mouth  for  the 
dumb  in  the  cause  of  all  such  as  are  appointed  to  de- 
struction," I  have  the  more  readily  complied,  because  I 
understood  that  the  invitation  was  designed  as  a  recog- 
nition of  the  position  which  the  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion with  which  I  am  connected  early  assumed,  and,  I 
think,  has  consistently  maintained,  with  respect  to  Amer- 
ican slavery  and  its  great  bulwark,  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  In  connection  with  other  religious 
bodies  are  to  be  found  men  who  have  battled,  are  now 
battling,  and  will,  we  hope,  to  the  end  battle,  nobly  and 
manfully  against  this  stupendous  conspiracy  against  the 
rights  of  God  and  man.  Other  denominations,  respect- 
able for  their  numbers  and  the  purity  of  their  faith, 
have  excluded  slaveholders  from  their  communion. 
But  Reformed  Presbyterians,  or,  as  we  are  frequently 
termed,  Covenanters,  —  Old-School  Covenanters,  —  have 
alone  entirely  divorced  themselves  from  the  system, — 
120 


SLAVERY  IN  CHURCH  AND  STATE.       121 

not  merely  by  excluding  slaveholders,  and  all  apologists 
and  abettors  of  slaveholders,  from  their  communion,  but 
by  refusing  to  vote,  hold  office  under,  swear  to  support, 
or  in  any  way  countenance,  a  system  of  government  that 
sanctions,  or  even  tolerates,  an  institution  so  odious  and 
abominable.  I  need  not  speak  here,  sir,  of  the  Cove- 
nanters. Their  history  is  well  known.  The  world  has 
it  by  heart.  They  have  ever  been  the  stern,  uncompro- 
mising foes  of  tyranny  in  every  form,  whether  civil  or 
ecclesiastical.  It  may  not,  however,  be  inappropriate 
to  remind  this  nation  of  a  fact  which  they  seem  to  have 
forgotten,  —  that  to  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland,  not 
less  than  to  the  Puritans  of  England,  they  are  indebted, 
under  God,  for  all  that  is  great  and  good  in  their  insti- 
tutions, for  the  measure  of  civil  and  religious  liberty 
which  they  enjoy,  and  for  whatever  of  national  great- 
ness and  glory  they  have  achieved. 

We  refuse  allegiance  to  this  government,  not  because 
we  are  anti-government  in  principle,  for  we  recognize 
government  to  be  a  divine  ordinance,  and  of  law  say  no 
less  than  that  "  its  seat  is  the  bosom  of  God,  and  its 
voice  the  harmony  of  the  world ; "  not  because  we  are 
enemies  to  our  country,  for  we  take  pride  in  all  that  is 
great  in  her  character,  and  excellent  in  her  institutions  ; 
not  because  we  prefer  any  other  form  in  general,  or 
any  other  nation  in  particular,  for  we  are  republican 
in  principle,  and  lift  our  testimony  against  every  nation 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  —  but  because  we  cannot  lift 
up  our  hands  to  heaven,  and  swear,  as  we  shall  answer 
to  God  at  the  great  day,  to  a  constitution  which  ignores 
alike  his  existence  and  the  authority  of  his  Son.  which 
refuses  to  recognize  the  obligations  of  that  immutable 


122  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

and  imperative  higher  law  which  he  has  given  to  be  a 
perfect  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  which  robs,  or  per- 
mits millions  of  unoffending  men  to  be  robbed,  of  their 
just  and  inalienable  rights.  With  respect  to  slavery, 
we  stood  for  years  alone,  and  directly  in  the  face  of  all 
the  political  and  religious  sentiment  of  the  country,  yet 
confident  that  this  was  the  only  consistent  position,  and 
that  here,  and  here  alone,  lay  the  salvation  of  the  Church 
from  the  guilt  of  this  sin  so  foul  and  enormous.  The 
progress  of  truth  in  this  as  in  many  other  instances  has 
been  slow.  But  it  is  encouraging  to  reflect  that  those 
truths  which  a  few  years  since  were  proclaimed  from 
a  few  obscure  pulpits,  "  like  the  voice  of  one  crying 
in  the  wilderness,"  are  now  the  platform  of  a  powerful 
organization,  and  embraced  and  defended  by  men  who 
have  the  ability  and  determination  to  send  them  abroad 
throughout  the  land  in  tones  that  must  be  heard. 

As  a  church  we  have  ever  advocated  the  immediate, 
total,  and  eternal  overthrow  of  slavery.  That  slavery  is 
a  sin,  —  a  sin  of  no  ordinary  character,  but  one  of  enor- 
mous magnitude,  —  I  cannot  now  wait  to  prove.  Such 
it  is  felt  and  declared  to  be  by  every  conscience  that  is 
not  seared  with  a  hot  iron,  by  the  universal  moral  sense 
of  the  world,  and  by  the  word  of  God  as  interpreted 
by  all,  save  in  the  miserable  booby  theology  of  slavehold- 
ing  churches.  Why,  sir,  convince  me  that  slavery  as  it 
is,  slavery  as  it  has  come  under  my  own  observation, 
slavery  as  it  must  be,  is  no  sin,  that  its  practice  is  not 
incompatible  with  Christianity,  and  I  shall  be  con- 
vinced that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  sin  or  sinners  in 
the  universe ;  that  we  arc  all  a  set  of  immaculate  saints 
or  angels  together ;  and  this  world,  which  we  have  been 


SLAVERY  IN  CHURCH  AND  STATE.  123 

accustomed  to  look  upon  as  sin-cursed  and  sin-scarred,  a 
perfect  paradise  of  bliss,  and  the  abode  of  spotless  purity 
and  holiness.  We  ministers  may  cease  our  work  :  our 
occupation  is  gone.  But  it  isn't  so,  sir.  If  there  is 
one  sin  deeper,  darker,  more  hideous  than  another,  one 
whose  footsteps  are  more  certainly  dogged  by  the  aven- 
ging furies,  one  against  which  the  tremendous  fiery  curses 
of  God's  Word  are  more  levelled  than  another,  that  sin 
is  slavery,  "  the  sum  of  all  villanies,"  the  most  atro- 
cious system  that  ever  trampled  on  the  rights  of  men 
or  women  against  the  throne  and  monarchy  of  God. 
It  is  too  late,  sir,  to  argue  the  point.  It  is  an  insult  to 
the  common  sense  of  the  world,  of  the  very  slaveholders 
themselves.  Why,  sir,  I  have  heard  them  sneer  at 
ministers  who  attempted  to  prove  and  defend  it  from 
the  Bible.  They  knew  it  was  a  lie,  and  only  the  more 
contemptible  because  falling  from  clerical  lips.  Of  this 
system  we  seek  the  immediate,  total,  eternal  overthrow, 
to  eradicate  it  from  American  soil,  not  "to  leave  the 
stump  of  his  roots  in  the  earth,  even  with  a  band  of  iron 
and  of  brass,  in  the  tender  grass  of  the  field,"  to  "  cast 
it"  suddenly  "like  a  great  millstone  into  the  sea,  that 
it  be  found  no  more  at  all."  If  there  ever  was  a 
system  that  deserved  and  demanded  such  a  course,  it  is 
slavery.  Such  as  it  is  itself  are  its  fruits.  When  the 
founders  of  this  nation  gave  it  a  place  in  the  govern- 
ment, they  sowed  the  wind  that  we  might  reap  the 
whirlwind.  Its  vine  is  of  the  vine  of  Sodom  and  the 
fields  of  Gomorrah ;  its  grapes  are  grapes  of  gall,  and  its 
clusters  bitter.  The  dragon's  teeth  have  produced  a 
crop  of  armed  men.  What  has  this  system  done  for  the 
American  people  that  they  should  so  love  and  cherish 


124  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

it  ?  It  has  turned  many  of  the  most  fertile  and  attrac- 
tive portions  of  our  country  into  a  barren  waste.  It 
has  covered  the  vast  domain  over  which  it  extends  with 
a  fearful  mental,  moral,  and  spiritual  darkness,  which 
grows  every  day  deeper  and  blacker.  It  has  degraded 
the  poor  white  population  of  the  South  to  the  level 
of  the  slaves  themselves.  It  has  corrupted  the  church, 
deprived  it  to  a  very  great  extent  of  its  moral  power, 
transformed  it  in  many  instances  into  a  synagogue  of 
Satan,  and  converted  it  into  a  vast  engine  for  the  pro- 
tection and  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness. 

Its  influence  on  the  press  has  been  equally  deleterious 
and  disastrous.  There  are  here,  as  elsewhere,  some 
honorable  exceptions ;  but  the  number  of  newspapers, 
journals,  religious  or  secular,  that  are  seeking  its  im- 
mediate, total,  and  eternal  overthrow,  are  like  angels 
visits,  few  and  far  between.  As  to  the  politicians,  the 
oath  to  the  Constitution  at  once  shears  their  locks,  puts 
out  their  eyes,  and  leaves  them  to  grind  in  the  dark 
prison-house  of  slavery.  All  honor  to  the  noble  men 
in  the  various  departments  of  government,  who  have 
resisted  the  encroachments  of  the  slave  power.  Yet 
every  disinterested  person  must  have  witnessed  with 
pain  the  fearful  moral  disadvantage  against  which  they 
have  maintained  the  unequal  strife.  They  first  knock 
the  foundation  from  under  their  own  feet,  by  the  oath 
to  the  Constitution,  and  then  are  compelled  to  fight 
without  a  basis  upon  which  to  stand.  There  is  a  higher 
law  than  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  but  the 
man  who  has  taken,  and  who  adheres  to,  his  oath  to 
that  instrument,  has  no  right  to  plead  its  requirements. 
To  that  oath  he  must  prove  faithful  so  long  as  he  retains 


SLAVERY  IX  CHURCH  AND  STATE.  125 

the  seat  in  the  national  councils  which  he  thus  secured. 
If  its  requisitions  come  in  conflict  with  the  higher  law, 
he  has  but  one  alternative,  —  cither  violate  conscience 
and  obey  the  Constitution,  or  resign  his  seat. 

And  here,  sir,  in  my  judgment,  the  slaveholders  carry 
off  the  palm  of  consistency  from  our  free-soil  senators 
and  representatives. 

The  fact  is,  our  government  is  slavery's  domain 
guarded  by  the  Constitution,  standing,  like  another 
Cei'berus,  at  the  entrance:  a  sop  must  be  thrown  in  the 
shape  of  a  solemn  oath,  which  completely  paralyzes 
every  effort  which  might  otherwise  be  made.  When 
they  seize  the  pillars  of  slavery,  they  will  bring  down 
the  entire  framework  of  the  government  about  their 
own  heads.  There  is,  sir,  as  I  conceive,  nothing  to  be 
hoped  for  from  that  quarter.  Slavery  is  the  central 
power  of  the  system  ;  the  attractive  and  radiating  centre 
of  the  entire  influence  of  the  country.  It  has  sunk  its 
roots  deeply  into  the  national  soil ;  extended  its  boughs 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  while  the  tree  of  Liberty  withers 
and  droops  and  dies  under  its  deadly  shadow.  We 
were  once  accustomed  to  speak  of  it  as  a  spot  upon  our 
national  escutcheon ;  that  day  has  passed :  its  foul  stain 
is  upon  every  fold  of  the  star-spangled  banner. 

It  has  become  the  great  national  disease  pervading 
the  entire  body  politic ;  preying  upon  the  vitals,  taint- 
ing all  the  blood,  and  threatening  the  very  existence, 
of  the  nation.  It  may  have  been  a  little  cloud,  like 
a  man's  hand,  once,  but  it  has  now  overspread  the 
whole  political  heavens  :  from  its  dark  bosom  the  thun- 
ders of  revolution  roll,  and  the  lightnings  of  civil 
discord  flash. 


126  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

The  only  safety  lies  in  a  bold  and  determined  effort 
to  effect  its  immediate,  total  and  eternal  overthrow. 
To  talk  of  checking  its  encroachments  is  consummate 
folly.  This  has  been  the  language  of  politicians  for 
years ;  but  while  now  these  politicians  have  been  thus 
talking,  slavery  has  been  at  work.  The  North  has  been 
made  a  hunting-ground ;  the  granite  hills  of  New 
England  have  echoed  to  the  baying  of  its  beagles ;  our 
vast  national  domain  has  been  thrown  wide  open  to  its 
admission ;  while  the  last  step  towards  the  utter  demor- 
alization of  the  nation  has  been  taken  by  the  late 
infamous  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Now,  sir,  it  must  be  perfectly  evident  to  all  who  are 
willing  to  see,  that  the  only  hope  lies  in  the  principles 
which  this  Society  has  adopted.  The  bulwarks  which 
slavery  has  erected  must  be  stormed,  carried,  levelled 
with  the  ground.  Its  eternal  overthrow  is  the  only 
object  worth  contending  for ;  and  this  will  only  be  ac- 
complished by  the  agency  of  men  who  walk  right  over 
every  thing  in  the  way,  —  the  Union,  the  Constitution, 
church  organizations,  the  Kepublican  party,  and  all,  — 
direct  to  the  slave,  —  men,  sir,  who  consider  this  an 
object  of  paramount  importance,  and  who  will  sacrifice 
every  thing,  but  their  honor  and  their  religion,  to  its 
accomplishment. 

This  our  politicians  cannot  do  ;  their  feet  are  entangled 
in  the  government  net ;  they  cannot  deal  the  monster  a 
blow  in  the  face,  if  they  would ;  their  hands  are  both 
tied  by  the  oath  of  allegiance.  The  churches  are  in  an 
equally  false  position. 

&  political  crime  can  never  be  a  moral  virtue.  And 
with  what   sort  of  consistency  can  men  denounce  the 


SLAVERY  IX  CHURCH  AND  STATE.       127 

system  while  continuing  to  hold  ecclesiastical  fellowship 
with  those  who  practise  and  defend  it?  Is  not  the 
command  of  God  fairly  written  in  letters  of  light, 
"  Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  and  touch 
not  the  unclean  thing"''  ? 

I  do  not,  sir,  wish  to  be  understood  as  bringing  a 
railing  accusation  against  the  churches,  —  much  less,  sir, 
against  the  Church.  God  forbid!  I  look  upon  it  as  the 
hope  of  the  world ;  and,  sir,  in  the  pale  of  what  I  term 
slaveholding  churches,  because  they  permit  it,  there 
are  great  and  good  men,  —  men,  sir,  whom  I  delight  to 
honor.  I  only  lament  that  they  are  not  greater  and 
better,  and  that  they  do  not  see  the  line  of  truth  and 
duty  here  as  clearly  as  they  do  in  other  respects,  just, 
sir.  as  I  lament  that  some  of  the  great  and  noble  spirits 
connected  with  the  anti-slavery  enterprise  are  not 
greater  and  better,  and  do  not  see  as  clearly,  and  boldly 
defend,  the  only  means  to  rescue  men  from  spiritual 
slavery,  as  they  clearly  see,  and  ably  advocate,  the  only 
system  which  will  deliver  men  from  temporal  bondage. 

But  speaking  here,  sir,  as  an  Abolitionist,  not  a 
"  Garrisonian  Abolitionist,"  though  I  have  no  particular 
objection  to  that  term,  but  as  a  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Abolitionist,  —  I  believe  the  oldest  species  of  the  genus 
that  is  to  be  found,  —  and  as  I  do,  to  a  certain  extent, 
in  the  name  of  that  branch  of  the  church,  I  must  say  to 
these  churches  that  their  position  is  one  inconsistent 
with  the  religion  which  they  profess ;  and  to  those  anti- 
slavery  men  connected  with  them,  that  the  time  has 
come  that  demands  that  they  protest  against  it,  by  a 
separation  from  all  connection  with  them. 

But  then,  we  arc  asked,  what  will  become  of  these 


128  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

churches  if  we  thus  abandon  then?  Just  what  has 
become  of  every  organization  when  it  ceased  to  be  the 
Church  of  God.  Just  what  became  of  the  Jewish 
Church  when  it  refused  the  Saviour,  and  persecuted  his 
followers.  Just,  sir,  what  will  become  of  Rome  when 
the  command  shall  be  obeyed,  "  Come  out  of  her,  my 
people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  and  that  ye 
receive  not  of  her  plagues."  God  will  take  care  of  his 
Church,  let  come  what  come  may  of  these  distinct  organ- 
izations. They  may  go  down,  down,  like  a  great  mill- 
stone into  the  sea ;  but  the  Church  will  live,  for  the  Lord 
God  in  the  midst  of  her  is  mighty.  In  the  same  way  we 
are  asked,  what  would  become  of  the  government  if  we 
should  all  refuse  to  vote  or  hold  office,  like  you  1  Why, 
sir,  it  is  plain  enough  what  would  become  of  it.  It 
would  fall  like  an  old,  tottering  house  when  the  props  are 
taken  away,  and  we  should  have  a  better  —  a  worse  we 
could  not  well  have — in  its  place.  If  we  could  not  have 
it  with  the  Union,  we  could  have  it  without  the  Union. 
If  we  did  not  have  it  with  that  body  of  death,  the  South, 
we  would  have  it,  which  would  be  far  better,  without. 
We  have  been  accustomed,  sir,  to  speak  of  this  republic 
as  the  hope  of  the  world ;  but,  sir,  that  day  has  passed ; 
that  language  is  ironical.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is 
on  earth  an  intelligent  friend  of  human  liberty  who  now 
turns  his  eye  to  this  nation  as  the  star  of  hope.  And 
perhaps  this  is  well :  it  is  well  for  the  world  to  learn, 
although  late,  that  its  hope  is  not  in  men  or  in  human 
systems  of  government,  but  in  God,  in  the  eternal  and 
immutable  principles  of  truth  revealed  in  his  Word,  and 
the  redemption  of  his  Son.  When  men  begin  to  realize 
this  divine  idea,  then  may  they  lift  up  their  heads  know- 


SLAVERY  IX  CHURCH  AND  STATE.  129 

ing  that  the  day  of  their  redemption  is  nigh.  Here, 
and  here  alone,  is  the  world's  hope,  not  in  any  constitu- 
tion of  government,  not  in  any  union  of  States,  not  in 
any  one  nation,  or  alliance  of  nations,  holy  or  unholy. 

But  this  course  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  disso- 
lution of  the  Union.  The  Northern  mind  must  become 
familiarized  with  this  idea,  the  sooner  the  better  for 
them.  They  will  have  to  come  to  it  at  last.  If  we  do 
not  dissolve  it,  it  will  dissolve  itself.  Such  incongruous 
elements  cannot  be  kept  united.  It  is  part  of  iron,  and 
part  of  miry  clay.  You  can't  put  bonds  around  it  strong 
enough  to  keep  it  together.  Is  it  better  to  escape  from 
it,  or  wait  till  it  comes  cracking,  crashing,  tumbling, 
about  our  ears  ?  We  could  not  preserve  it  if  we  would. 
God's  attributes  are  every  one  arrayed  against  it ;  and 
the  wheels  of  his  providence  will  roll  over  it,  and  grind 
it  to  powder.  It  will  be  carried  away  like  the  chaff  of 
the  summer  threshing-floor.  Two  cannot  walk  together 
except  they  be  agreed,  —  light  has  no  fellowship  with 
darkness.  What  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial  ?  No 
union  of  churches  or  of  nations  can  stand  when  expe- 
diency is  the  bond  which  binds  them  together.  The 
fact  is,  as  every  one  may  see,  this  Union  has  in  it  the 
elements  of  its  own  destruction.  The  shock  will  come 
at  last,  and  be  but  the  more  fearful  in  proportion  to  the 
length  of  time  that  the  interests  of  humanity  have  been 
sacrificed  to  its  existence.  Truth  and  justice  can  alone 
bind  States  securely  together.  This  is  nothing  but  a 
truism  to  which  in  theory  at  least  every  one  responds,  and 
which  admits  of  no  exception  but  one,  —  this  union  be- 
tween the  North  and  the  South.  But  talk  about  it  as 
we  may,  He  that  sits  in  heaven  laughs  at  such  com' 


130  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

binations :  the  Lord  God  has  them  in  derision,  and  in 
his  own  time  will  break  them  in  pieces  as  a  potter's 
vessel. 

The  fact  is,  this  whole  system  of  government,  like 
those  which  have  gone  before  it,  has  been  weighed  in 
the  balances  of  eternal  justice,  and  been  found  wanting. 
The  handwriting  is  upon  the  wall ;  and  they,  and  they 
alone,  are  the  true  friends  and  lovers  of  their  country 
who  endeavor  to  avert  the  impending  doom  by  dealing 
faithfully  with  the  conscience  of  the  nation,  by  calling 
upon  it  to  break  every  yoke  under  the  heavy  burdens, 
and  let  the  oppressed  go  free. 

As  a  friend  to  my  country,  I  would  say  to  her,  Hear 
the  voice  of  God  as  it  comes  from  a  thousand  lands  all 
waste  and  desolate,  that  for  sins  of  those  who  dwell 
therein  have  been  turned  into  barrenness ;  hear  it  as  it 
comes  from  the  voices  of  a  thousand  once  powerful, 
prosperous,  and  populous  cities,  that  have  been  trodden 
under  foot  by  the  footsteps  of  an  avenging  God,  and 
left  desolate,  without  an  inhabitant,  because  in  their 
marts  was  found  the  merchandise  of  slaves, —  those  who 
traded  in  the  persons  of  men  ;  hear  it  as  it  comes  from 
the  high,  imperial  throne  of  the  universe,  louder  than 
the  sound  of  many  waters,  louder  than  all  the  crashing 
artillery  of  heaven,  The  nation  and  kingdom  that  will 
not  serve  me  shall  perish :  yea,  those  nations  shall  be 
utterly  wasted,  —  the  voice  of  him  who  has  threatened 
that  he  will  rise  in  awful  majesty  for  the  oppression  of 
the  poor  and  the  sighing  of  the  needy. 

As  a  member  and  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
as  one  who  has  invincible  and  unshaken  faith  in  her 
power,   her   mission,  and  her  destiny,  I   would  say  to 


SLAVERY  IX  CHURCH  AXD  STATE.       131 

those  churches  who  still  tolerate  this  evil,  beware  of  the 
threatcnings  pronounced  and  executed  upon  the  church 
of  Israel :  "  If  ye  will  not  for  all  this  hearken  unto  me, 
but  walk  contrary  unto  me ;  then  I  will  walk  contrary 
unto  you  also  in  fury ;  and  I,  even  I,  will  chastise  you 
seven  times  for  your  sins." 


THE   CHURCH  AND   SLAVERY. 

BOSTON,    1860. 


It  is  related  of  the  illustrious  English  philanthropist, 
Howard,  when  visiting  Italy  for  objects  connected  with 
the  grand  work  to  which  he  had  consecrated  his  life, 
that  he  did  not  turn  aside  to  view  her  noble  galleries 
of  art,  her  magnificent  ruins  "  sublime  even  in  decay," 
or  any  of  those  historic  scenes  where  the  fate  of  empires 
and  the  destinies  of  the  world  have  been  decided. 

The  great  Genevan  reformer,  John  Calvin,  spent  his 
life  amid  the  most  attractive  and  transporting  natural 
scenery;  yet  he  has  left  behind  no  descriptions,  I  believe 
no  direct  allusions  even,  to  the  sublime  tumult  of  the 
rushing  Rhone,  the  mist-enshrouded  Jura,  or  the  snowy 
grandeur  of  the  "  monarch  of  the  Alps."  Intent  upon 
his  great  work  of  organizing  the  spiritual  and  social 
forces  of  the  Reformation,  he  had  neither  time,  feelings, 
nor  energy  to  be  expended  upon  lighter  interests. 

No  one  standing  where  I  stand  to-day  can  be  unmind- 
ful of  those  hallowed  memories  that  cluster  around  this 
honored  city  of  the  Puritans :  I  do  not  forget  that  we 
are  assembled  almost  within  hearing  of  the  waves  that 
break  upon  Plymouth  Rock,  beneath  the  shadow  of 
] Junker  Hill  and  Faneuil  Hall;  that  these  shores  heard 
first  the  roar  of  the  enemies'  cannon,  and  these  streets 

132 


THE  CHURCH  AND  SLAVERY.  133 

i 
drank  the  first  blood  in  that  memorable  struggle  which 
gave  independence,  but,  alas  !  not  liberty,  to  the  Ameri- 
can colonies. 

But  what  are  these  things  in  presence  of  the  great 
object  that  has  called  us  together,  —  the  oppression  by 
our  own  race,  by  our  own  countrymen,  of  four  millions 
of  human  beings,  one  day  of  whose  bondage  is  worse 
than  a  thousand  years  of  that  against  which  our  fathers 
rose,  Thomas  Jefferson,  himself  a  slaveholder,  being 
judge  ?  In  view  of  scenes  upon  which  Boston  eyes 
have  looked  in  later  days,  of  the  acts  of  the  man  whom 
—  if  I  am  to  judge  of  what  I  see  in  Faneuil  Hall  and 
on  Capitol  Hill  —  Massachusetts  delights  to  honor  above 
all  her  noble  dead  and  illustrious  living,  I  appear  to 
myself  to  be  surrounded  by  the  mournful  mementos  of 
a  dead  past,  rather  than  by  the  embodied  inspirations 
of  a  living  present. 

Shall  we  not  cease  to  build  the  tombs  of  the  prophets, 
and  garnish  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous,  while  we 
imprison  and  hang  and  burn  those  that  do  like  them? 
Shall  we  not,  as  ministers  and  members  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  utter  so  loud  a  protest  in  the  name  of  God 
and  by  the  authority  of  his  Word  against  this  colossal 
iniquity,  this  enormous  crime  of  our  country,  as  shall 
make  the  stupendous  system  rock  to  its  very  founda- 
tions, give  a  new  birth  to  the  spirit  of  the  revelation, 
or,  failing  in  this,  at  least  deliver  our  own-  souls,  and 
prevent  all  the  righteous  blood  that  has  been  shed,  from 
the  blood  of  the  martyred  Love-joy  whom  they  murdered 
in  the  streets  of  Alton,  to  the  blood  of  John  Brown  and 
his  compeers  whom  they  slew  at  Charlestown,  from 
coming  upon  us  \ 


134  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

It  is,  indeed,  more  than  two  hundred  years  since  our 
Protestant  Christianity  started  upon  its  mission  upon 
the  shores  of  the  New  World :  and  the  result  is  before 
us  in  the  sorrowful  fact  that  we  have  convened  to-day 
in  an  attempt  to  rouse  the  conscience  of  a  sleeping 
Church ;  to  call  upon  her  to  awake,  arise,  and  throw 
off  this  mighty  incubus  by  which  she  is  crushed  to  the 
earth ;  to  wipe  out  this  blot  from  her  escutcheon ;  to  gird 
herself  to  a  conflict  with  that  foulest  system  of  iniquity 
that  ever  trampled  upon  the  rights  of  man,  or  warred 
against  the  throne  and  monarchy  of  God  ;  to  destroy 
with  that  power  of  Omnipotence  with  which  she  is  in- 
vested, this  sum  of  all  villanies ;  and  to  drive  from  the 
temple  of  God  this  abomination  that  maketh  desolate. 

I  say  a  sorrowful  fact,  because  this  should  have  been 
done  long  ago ;  our  fathers  of  the  last  century  should 
have  undertaken  and  accomplished  this  task ;  and  then 
the  Church  of  to-day,  instead  of  writhing  as  she  does 
within  the  coils,  and  sickened  as  she  is  with  the  poison 
of  this  serpent,  might  have  stood  upon  the  very  summits 
of  victory,  and  been  looking  out  hopefully  upon  fields 
white  to  the  harvest  of  missionary  enterprise  in  other 
lands.  Prometheus-like,  our  common  Christianity  has 
lived  with  this  vulture,  slavery,  gnawing  at  its  heart. 
Is  it  not  time  to  exorcise  the  demon  ?  for  the  Church  to 
say  to  this  bird  of  evil  omen, — 

"Take  your  beak  from  out  my  heart,  take  your  form  from  off  my 
floor"? 

If,  as  Mr.  Lovejoy  said  so  boldly  and  so  truthfully 
the  other  day  in  Congress,  such  a  Caliban  has  no  right 
to  exist,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  sacred,  why  should 


THE  CHURCH  AND  SLAVERY.         135 

its  presence  be  any  longer  endured  in  the  Church'? 
What  fellowship  can  Christ  have  with  this  Belial  [  what 
concord  can  his  light  have  with  this  darkness  ? 

Our  object  is,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  drive  slavery  from 
the  Church ;  for  this  work  we  have  girded  on  our 
armor ;  under  this  banner  we  have  enlisted ;  in  this 
conflict  we  have  engaged;  and,  in  God's  name,  we  moan 
to  display  our  banner,  and,  with  his  assistance,  to  con- 
quer ;  and  then,  while  the  Church  herself  be  free  to 
war  with  this  iniquity,  to  demand  in  the  name  of  God 
its  total,  immediate,  and  absolute  extinction  and  extir- 
pation wherever  found.  With  any  aim  short  of  this,  I, 
for  one,  should  not  be  satisfied :  with  any  party,  politi- 
cal or  ecclesiastical,  that  proposes  any  thing  less,  I  have 
no  sympathy. 

I  have  to  confess,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  the  current 
interpretations  of  Christianity  and  the  Church's  mission 
in  the  world  are  very  foreign  to  my  own  conceptions. 
I  find  myself  in  thought  and  in  feeling  nearer  to  some 
whom  the  world  stigmatizes  as  infidel,  than  to  many 
who  sit  in  Moses'  seat ;  for,  of  all  forms  of  infidelity,  I 
believe  that  to  be  the  worst  which  asserts  that  the  Lord 
God  sanctions  the  system  of  American  slavery.  Satan 
is  most  a  fiend  when  clothed  in  the  garb  of  an  angel 
of  light.  That  man  serves  him  most  effectually  who 
docs  it  in  the  stolen  livery  of  heaven. 

For  this  purpose  was  Christ  manifested,  that  he  might 
destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil ;  this  was  the  work, 
which,  when  ascended  up  on  high,  he  committed  to  his 
apostles  and  their  successors  to  the  end  of  time  ;  for  this 
was  the  promise  of  his  perpetual  presence  with  them  to 
the  end  of  the  world  given ;  for  this  were  they  endowed 


136  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

with  spiritual  gifts,  and  for  this  work  did  they  organize 
the  Christian  Church.  Dr.  Spring  and  the  whole  army 
of  lower-law  divines  assert  that  Christianity  must  not 
come  in  contact  with  existing  institutions.  Mr.  Chair- 
man, I  deny  it.  True,  the  weapons  of  our  warfare  are 
not  carnal,  but  spiritual ;  yet  are  they  mighty,  through 
God,  to  the  pulling  down  of  the  strongholds  of  sin  and 
Satan ;  and  for  that  very  purpose  were  they  given  us, 
that  we  might  engage  in  deadly  warfare  with  great 
organic  systems  of  iniquity,  —  existing  institutions,  —  and 
in  the  name  of  God  destroy  them.  I  am  amazed  that 
any  man  who  has  read  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
history  of  the  Christian  centuries,  could  command  the 
unblushing  effrontery  that  would  enable  him  to  stand 
up,  and  looking  in  the  eyes  of  a  Christian  congregation, 
and  in  the  face  of  the  Christian  world,  assert  that  Chris- 
tianity is  not  to  come  in  contact  with  existing  institutions. 
And  yet,  sir,  this  is  the  lower  law  and  gospel  that 
is  preached  all  over  this  land,  and  which  has  dragged 
down  the  Church  to  this  condition  of  unfaithfulness,  of 
moral  imbecility  and  indifference,  until  we  hardly  know 
whether  we  have  any  longer  Christian  churches,  or  only 
synagogues  of  Satan :  in  the  name  of  God  I  would  ask 
what  is  to  come  in  contact  with  existing  organic  systems 
of  iniquity,  if  the  Church  is  not  %  with  what  engine  is 
Christ  to  demolish  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  and  destroy 
the  works  of  the  Devil,  if  the  Church  is  not  that  engine  ? 
with  what  weapons  arc  we  to  assault  the  strongholds  of 
sin  and  Satan,  and  remove  those  burdens  under  which 
our  suffering  humanity  lias  groaned  and  travailed  in 
pain  until  now,  if  the  Church  is  not  the  spiritual  power 
ordained  of  God  for  this  very  end? 


THE  CHURCH  AND  SLAVERY.         137 

Why,  sir,  Christ  came  in  contact  with  all  the  exist- 
ing institutions  of  his  day  in  Church  and  State.  These 
lovers  of  a  milk-and-water  gospel,  these  rose-water  phi- 
lanthropists who  would  cure  all  the  evils  of  society  by 
homoeopathic  doses  of  this  high  dilution  of  love  and 
charity,  surely  never  could  have  read  that  twenty-third 
chapter  of  Matthew,  which  is  one  tremendous  fiery  fur- 
nace, heated  seven  times  hotter  than  is  wont  with  burn- 
ing indignation  in  which  to  consume  existing  institutions 
of  scribes  and  Pharisees  and  hypocrites.  He  came  in 
contact  with  them,  and  opposed  them  until  they  could 
endure  him  no  longer  ;  and  they  put  him  to  death  at  the 
age  of  thirty-three  years.  Did  not  the  disciples  coutend 
with  existing  institutions,  idolatry,  Judaism,  false  phi- 
losophy, and  false  science,  and  slavery  too,  notwithstand- 
ing the  glozing  lies  that  have  persistently  been  spoken 
and  written  upon  this  subject? 

The  Church  in  all  ages  has  been  a  Church  militant 
not  yet  become  a  Church  triumphant.  By  that  cross 
upon  which  our  Saviour  bled  and  died,  by  those  dun- 
geons dark  and  damp  in  which  his  followers  have  pined, 
by  those  Roman  amphitheatres  in  which  early  Christians 
were  thrown  to  the  lions  of  Numidia,  to  the  tigers  of 
Asia,  because  they  would  not  obey  unholy  edicts  ;  in  the 
name  of  the  great  cloud  of  witnesses  who  have  been 
stoned,  sawn  asunder,  slain  with  the  sword,  who  have 
wandered  in  sheep-skins  and  goat-skins,  destitute,  tor- 
mented, and  afflicted ;  in  the  name  of  the  souls  under 
the  altar  who  cry,  "  How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and  true, 
dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth '?"  —  I  protest  against  a  perversion  of 
Christianity  so  enormous,  a  reproach  upon  the  memory 


138  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

of  the  martyred  dead  so  foul  and  malignant.  If  the 
theory  of  these  modern  American  divines  —  for,  thank 
God,  such  doctrines  of  devils  are  confined  to  this  coun- 
try—  were  the  true  one,  no  martyrs'  blood  had  ever 
been  shed,  and  our  sympathy  with  them  is  a  sympathy 
for  blind,  bigoted,  and  misguided  zeal.  The  truth  is, 
Mr.  Chairman,  our  Christianity  must  be  rescued  from 
the  hands  of  those  men  into  which  its  highest  and 
holiest  interests  have  fallen,  or  we  go  down  into  a  night 
of  corruption,  superstition,  and  barbarism  worse  than 
the  thousand  years  that  preceded  the  Reformation. 

Romanism  produced  French  infidelity,  Prussian  eccle- 
siasticism,  and  modern  rationalism.  The  silence  of  the 
Church  is  creating  infidels  in  this  land  by  the  thousands. 
Night  and  day  all  over  our  land  goes  up  the  wail  of  the 
afflicted,  the  destitute,  the  oppressed :  but,  if  there  be 
one  cry  that  swells  more  loudly  and  rises  higher  than 
another,  it  is  the  cry  of  the  four  millions  of  bondmen 
trodden  in  the  wine-press  of  Southern  bondage,  as  they 
lift  imploring  hands  to  heaven,  and  cry  to  God  for 
deliverance ;  and  yet  the  great  American  Tract  Society 
remains  persistently  silent,  thirty  thousand  pulpits  are 
dumb,  missionary  associations  are  afraid  to  utter  their 
testimony,  and  men  are  so  in  love  with  these  things 
they  call  churches,  that  they  deem  it  a  wise  conserva- 
tism to  speak  of  this  atrocity  with  bated  breath,  lest 
perchance  the  harmony  of  this  Church  should  be 
endangered.  Do  not  let  me  be  misunderstood.  I  am 
a  member  and  minister  of  a  church  that  has  come  down 
by  direct  succession  from  the  days  of  Calvin  and  Knox. 
I,  too,  have  my  denominational  attachments ;  but,  sir, 
if  I  thought  that  there  was  any  moral  position  too  far 


THE  CHURCH  AXD  SLAVERY.         139 

advanced  for  my  branch  of  the  Church,  any  one  that 
would  endanger  our  peace,  I  would  take  it  at  once,  and, 
if  she  split  into  as  many  fragments  as  there  are  asteroids 
in  the  solar  system,  I  would  think  I  had  done  God's 
service.  A  church  that  is  not  true  to  the  slave  has  no 
right  to  exist,  and  the  sooner  it  is  out  of  the  way  the  bet- 
ter :  of  all  such  churches  I  say,  "  My  soul,  come  not  thou 
into  their  secret ;  unto  their  assembly,  mine  honor,  be 
not  thou  united."  "  First  pure,  then  peaceable."  "  There 
is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked."  "  Think 
not  that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  earth.  I  came 
not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword." 

When  shall  we  learn  that  man  was  not  made  for  the 
Church,  but  the  Church  for  man ;  that  sacred  names 
cannot  sanctify  crime  ;  and  thus,  when  any  organization 
calling  itself  a  church  becomes  a  prop  to  a  system  that 
contravenes  the  whole  purpose  of  the  gospel,  it  is  nigh 
unto  cursing,  and  fit  for  nothing  but  to  be  burned? 
But  have  I  overleaped  my  theme'?  Is  slavery,  after  all, 
an  evil,  and  such  a  moral  curse  and  nuisance  as  I  have 
been  taking  for  granted  that  it  is,  or  is  it  a  patriarchal 
institution,  like  unto  the  family  ?  Is  it  the  normal  state 
of  society,  essential  to  the  highest  development  of  civili- 
zation ?  Above  all,  is  it  God's  noblest,  grandest  mis- 
sionary institution,  ordained  of  heaven  for  the  evangeli- 
zation in  these  latter  days  of  the  millions  of  benighted 
heathendom?  for,  surely,  we  are  not  going  to  limit  the 
blessings  of  the  slave  trade  and  of  Southern  slavery  to  the 
natives  of  Africa !  This  is  to  be  respecters  of  persons, 
—  a  crime  which  God  forbids ;  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  this  inferior  and  disagreeable  race  should  be  the 
only  participators  in  such  infinite  blessings.    If  Southern 


140  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

slavery  be  such  a  paradise  of  bliss,  such  a  heaven  upon 
earth ;  if  it  affords  such  magnificent  opportunities  for 
evangelization,  —  it  is  surely  God's  decree  (certainly  the 
ordained  end  of  his  providence)  that  we  should  welcome 
the  millions  of  China  and  India  and  Japan  to  a  par- 
ticipation in  the  same  benefits.  Those  Japanese  ambas- 
sadors must  not  be  returned  to  their  own  country :  they 
are  heathen  idolaters.  I  protest  against  their  return  in 
the  name  of  humanity  and  of  our  common  religion. 
After  we  have  dined  and  feted  them  sufficiently,  let 
them  be  assigned  to  one  of  our  great  missionary  sta- 
tions,—  a  tobacco  plantation  in  Virginia  ;  what  is  better 
still,  a  rice  plantation  in  Carolina,  or  a  sugar  plantation 
in  Louisiana, —  and  brought  under  the  Christianizing 
influences  of  this  benign  and  scriptural  domestic  insti- 
tution. When  they  have  remained  a  sufficient  length 
of  time,  a  few  of  the  elder  and  more  decrepit  may  be 
returned  by  that  eminently  benevolent  institution,  the 
Colonization  Society,  in  order  to  confer  the  combined 
influences  of  our  Christianity  and  civilization  upon  any  of 
their  benighted  heathen  who  may  have  remained  behind 
in  Japan.  The  question  as  to  the  inherent  sinfulness 
of  slavery  is,  after  all,  the  gist  of  the  whole  controversy. 
Let  us  give  O'Conor  the  credit  of  meeting  it  fairly  and 
squarely,  lie  had  the  good  sense  to  see  that,  in  fleeing 
from  ultra  and  radical  abolitionism,  this  was  the  first 
spot  upon  which  he  could  find  a  place  for  the  soles  of  his 
feet;  namely,  the  right  of  one  man  to  own  another  as 
property  ;  the  right  of  the  white  man  to  enslave  the 
black  ;  the  right  of  the  stronger  to  assault  the  weaker, 
—  a  pretty  warm  place,  I  admit,  to  stand  ;  but  between 
heaven  and  hell  is  chaos.     If  a  man  refuse  the  golden 


THE  CHURCH  AND  SLAVERY.         141 

pavements  of  the  one,  he  must  accept  the  burning  marl 
of  the  other. 

The  ablest,  I  think,  and  most  learned,  ecclesiastical 
council  that  ever  sat,  defines  sin  to  be  any  want  of  con- 
formity unto,  or  transgression  of,  the  law  of  God  given 
as  a  rule  to  the  reasonable  creature.  Tried  by  this  defi- 
nition,—  and  no  better  can  be  found,  —  is  not  a  system 
sinful,  inherently  sinful,  that  violates  not  one  nor  two, 
but  every,  precept  of  the  Decalogue  ?  that  dashes  both 
tablets  of  the  law  at  once  to  atoms,  and  hurls  the  frag- 
ments defiantly  at  the  throne  of  God?  that  robs  man  of 
his  rights,  and,  in  the  person  of  the  slave,  God,  of  all 
his  honor  ?  If  this  be  not  sin  deserving  God's  wrath  and 
curse,  both  in  this  life  and  in  that  which  is  to  come,  then 
let  us  all  become  pantheists,  declare  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  sin  in  the  universe,  and  retire  from  the  min- 
isterial office  and  work,  proclaiming  that  "whatever  is, 
is  right,  and  that  that  which  is  strongest  is  always  best." 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  know  what  slavery  is  from  personal 
observation.  I  have  stood  upon  the  soil  accursed  by  its 
hateful  presence :  I  have  seen  something  of  its  yet  un- 
written cruelties,  its  ineffable  abominations,  and  I  am 
bold  to  declare  that  the  half  has  not  been  told,  never 
can  be,  and  never  will  be  told.  I  have  conversed  with 
master  and  with  slave  frequently,  freely,  and  fully.  I 
know  the  manner  in  which  it  is  viewed,  and  the  influ- 
ence which  it  exerts  upon  both,  and  likewise  upon  the 
society  in  which  it  exists ;  and,  sir,  I  must  say  to  the 
man  who  denies  its  essential  sinfulness,  either  that  he  is 
deplorably  ignorant,  that  he  is  wilfully  blind,  or  that  he 
has  no  moral  faculty  with  which  to  distinguish  right 
from  wrong. 


142  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY 

I  do  not  affirm  that  all  slaveholders  are  immoral.  I 
do  not  deny  that  many  of  them  lament  the  condition  of 
things  which  exists  around  them ;  but  this  I  say,  that, 
if  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  were  worse  than  these  Southern 
States,  the  fire  and  brimstone  out  of  heaven  did  not 
descend  too  soon.  I  firmly  believe  that  there  is  no  land 
which  the  bright  sun  visits  in  his  course  in  which  his 
burning  eye  looks  upon  the  commission  of  so  many 
crimes  offensive  to  God  as  in  the  Southern  States  of 
this  Union. 

I  am  aware  that  this  representation  is  different  from 
that  which  is  sometimes  made  by  men  high  in  place ; 
and  I  contend  that  this  it  should  be,  for  there  is  no  sub- 
ject within  the  range  of  my  knowledge  upon  which 
truth  is  so  easily  accessible,  none  upon  which  there  is  so 
much  persistent  and  unblushing  misrepresentation.  If 
I  am  asked  why  such  men  as  Nehemiah  Adams  and 
Irenasus  Prime  constantly  present  the  case  in  a  light 
different,  my  reply  is,  that  God  and  their  own  con- 
sciences can  alone  answer  this.  Byron,  I  believe, 
divided  all  mankind  into  two  classes,  —  the  dupers  and 
the  duped.  To  which  these  men  belong,  I  leave  you  to 
decide.  I  remember  that,  on  a  certain  occasion,  a  vast 
commotion  was  made,  and  a  very  great  tumult  excited, 
while  a  multitude,  instigated  by  an  interested  leader, 
shouted,  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians,"  at  the  top 
of  their  voice  for  two  hours ;  not  that  they  cared  so 
much  for  Diana,  —  they  knew  that  the  great  goddess  was 
a  tremendous  humbug,  —  but  because  by  this  craft  they 
had  their  wealth.  Cut  off  the  Southern  subscription-list 
from  "  The  New-York  Observer,"  and  all  of  its  class,  and 
I  venture  to  predict  their  zeal  for  this  modern  Diana 


THE  CHURCH  AND  SLAVERY.         143 

would  speedily  ooze  out,  like  a  celebrated  character's 
courage,  at  the  ends  of  their  fingers,  and  that  suddenly 
they  would  be,  like  Saul  among  the  prophets,  head  and 
shoulders  above  all  the  crowd  of  anti-slavery  men  in 
their  opposition  to  the  system. 

I  believe  that  it  was  Hume  who  defended  murder 
upon  the  ground  that  it  was  merely  turning  a  small 
current  of  blood  from  one  channel  into  another  ;  and, 
doubtless,  if  we  permit  men  to  define  slavery  according 
to  their  own  caprice,  it  may  become  in  their  plastic 
hands  a  bomim  in  se,  and  a  positive  blessing  rather  than 
a  curse.  But,  sir,  the  slavery  of  which  we  speak  to-day, 
which  we  wish  to  drive  from  the  Church  as  Christ  drove 
the  money-changers  from  the  temple,  is  not  an  abstrac- 
tion, but  the  most  terrible  of  all  existing  realities  :  it  is 
American  slavery  of  which  we  speak,  a  system  which 
is  "  the  sum  of  all  villanies,"  the  most  atrocious  system 
of  slavery  upon  which  the  sun  ever  shone,  to  use  the 
language  of  one  who  has  lived,  and  does  still,  in  its  very 
midst,  R.  J.  Breckinridge.  It  is  of  its  very  essence  to 
affirm  "  that  wild  and  guilty  fantasy  that  man  can  hold 
property  in  man :  "  any  definition  that  leaves  out  this 
element  is  slavery  without  slavery,  the  play  of  "  Ham- 
let "  with  the  Prince  of  Denmark  omitted.  For  special 
reasons  it  involves  in  its  very  nature  crimes  of  the 
highest  degree  of  wickedness.  When  that  old  veteran, 
Joshua  R.  Giddings,  was  asked  in  Congress  whether 
slavery  was  of  itself  wrong,  he  replied,  "  Sir,  if  there 
be  any  crime  for  which  I  would  hang  a  man.  it 
would  be  the  crime  of  claiming  to  own  his  fellow- 
man." 

It  is  not,  be  it  remembered,  upon  the  abuses  of  slavery 


144  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

that  we  insist :  there  are  no  abuses  of  slavery,  as  there 
are  none  of  murder,  none  of  adultery.  We  assume  the 
broad  ground  that  it  is  of  itself  under  all  circumstances 
inherently  sinful,  a  malum  in  se  at  once  to  be  repented 
of  and  abandoned. 

I  have  heard  that  quite  a  large  number  of  New- 
England  clergymen  object  to  this  Society,  upon  the 
ground  that  it  assumes  slaveholding  to  be  inherently 
sinful,  and  refuse  to  come  upon  this  platform  for  this 
reason.  Well,  sir,  I  have  heard  also  that  the  ostrich, 
when  pursued  by  the  hunters  until  she  discovers  all 
escape  impossible,  hides  her  silly  head  in  the  sand.  It 
seems  to  me  these  men  pursued  by  Abolitionists,  and 
driven  from  one  refuge  of  lies  to  another,  at  last  have 
poked  their  heads  into  this  logical  fallacy  in  the  vain 
hope  of  escaping  from  their  duty  to  God  and  to  man. 
A  contemptible  ruse,  but  it  will  not  avail. 

Ah,  Mr.  Chairman!  I  know  not  whether  those  excuses 
which  men  form  to  screen  themselves  from  discharging 
their  whole  duty  to  the  slave,  are  calculated  to  excite 
most  of  pity  or  contempt.  The  American  Anti-Slavery 
Society  is  made  up,  say  they,  of  infidels :  the  Church 
Anti-Slavery  Society  declares  slavery  inherently  sinful. 
I  cannot  affiliate  with  either  of  the  organizations :  I 
must  stand  aloof.  As  to  preaching  upon  it,  they  are 
decidedly  opposed  to  introducing  politics  into  the  pulpit. 
1  defy  the  ingenuity  of  man  to  find  any  organization 
that  would  meet  their  views,  or  find  the  spot  pure 
enough  upon  which  they  may  stand  to  utter  a  protest 
against  this  evil.  The  truth  is,  there  is  too  much  of 
the  reproach  of  Christ  ,  connected  with  this  cause,  and 
they  are  not  ready  for  it. 


THE  CHURCH  AXD  SLAVERY.         145 

I  heard  a  venerable  man  of  this  city,  whose  praise  is 
in  all  the  churches,  and  against  whom  God  forbid  that 
I  should  utter  a  single  word  by  way  of  reproach,  make 
this  remark  in  the  Anniversary  of  the  Boston  Tract 
Society  recently  held  in  New  York :  ';  I  have  waited," 
said  he,  "  twenty-five  years  for  a  place  in  which  I  could 
stand  and  utter  all  my  mind  upon  this  subject ;  that 
place  I  have  at  length  found  in  this  Society." 

But,  1  thought,  twenty-five  years  of  the  vigor  of  a 
noble  life  gone,  a  whole  generation  of  slaves  crushed 
beneath  the  wheels  of  this  blood-stained  Moloch,  and 
no  place  to  be  found  from  which  to  utter  a  protest 
against  this  enormous  evil.  I  rejoiced,  sir,  in  the  reflec- 
tion that  I  had  accepted  the  very  first  invitation  tendered 
to  me  by  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  and  that  I 
had  found  a  place,  although  among  men  differing  from 
me,  as  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  in  theological 
opinion,  from  which  I  could  utter  all  my  mind  against 
this  gigantic  system  of  oppression. 

I  have  no  time  to  analyze  all  those  elements  of  evil, 
absolute  and  essential,  that  belong  to  slavery,  and  which 
prove  it  inherently  sinful ;  the  subject  is  so  fruitful  and 
so  vast  that  one  scarcely  knows  where  to  begin  ;  and, 
indeed,  so  manifestly  wrong  is  the  whole  system  from 
foundation  to  cope-stone,  that  one  scarcely  has  the 
patience  to  enter  into  the  discussion  at  all. 

Recently  I  listened  to  an  argument,  at  least  what  I 
suppose  the  speaker  intended  for  one,  in  favor  of  slavery, 
hi  an  assembly  that  claimed  to  be  a  court  of  the  Church 
of  Christ :  the  man  whom  they  called  a  minister,  and  I 
believe  a  presiding  elder,  was  proceeding  to  utter  senti- 
ments which  would  not,  I  think,  have  disgraced  the  deck 


146  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

of  a  slave-ship,  or  the  head  of  a  caffila  marching,  to  the 
tune  of  "  Hail  Columbia,"  from  Virginia  to  Carolina. 
A  young  man  who  sat  by  my  side  remarked,  "  I  should 
like  to  present  him  with  a  pair  of  handcuffs."  This, 
Mr.  Chairman,  is  the  best  answer, — let  the  chains  rattle 
in  his  own  ears,  let  his  back  feel  the  knotted  scourge, 
drive  him  day  after  day  under  the  lash  to  the  toilsome 
and  hated  task,  put  his  wife  and  children  upon  the 
auction-block,  and  the  discussion  is  ended. 

The  open,  undeniable  fact,  that  under  this  system 
the  family  relation  is  impossible,  that  it  does  not  admit  the 
institution  of  marriage,  that  there  is  no  possibility  of 
performing  those  duties  and  discharging  those  obliga- 
tions that  arise  out  of  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife, 
parent  and  child,  at  once  stamps  it  with  God's  disappro- 
bation and  curse,  convicts  it  of  inherent  sinfulness,  and 
ought  to  arm  against  it  in  open,  deadly,  and  unyielding 
warfare  every  professing  Christian. 

Now,  I  must  charge  upon  every  church  which  does 
not  make  slavery  a  term  of  communion,  and  refuse 
fellowship  to  all  implicated  in  this  guilt,  open  conni- 
vance with  the  violation  of  the  seventh  commandment 
in  the  worst  and  most  flagrant  forms.  This  charge  I 
am  prepared  to  sustain,  and  defy  any  man,  or  all  men, 
to  get  out  from  under  it.  Is  such  a  system  malum  in 
se  ?  Is  it  inherently  sinful  1  Ought  it  to  be  banished 
from  the  Church  of  God  ? 

Make  the  family  relation  sacred  for  the  slave  as  it  is 
for  you  and  me  to-day,  forbid  the  separation  of  husband 
and  wife,  of  parent  and  child,  and  you  have  rendered 
slavery  impossible :  you  have  struck  such  a  blow  as  will 
necessarily  result  in  its  ultimate  extinction.     But  per- 


THE  CHURCH  AND  SLAVERY.         147 

sons  often  say  to  me,  "  Surely,  separation  of  families  is 
not  very  common :  humane  masters  will  not  do  such 
things."  The  misfortune  is,  they  are  compelled  to  do 
them.  The  more  humane  they  are,  the  more  likely  to 
be  forced  into  it.  Humane  men  cannot  always  secure 
themselves  against  the  demands  of  the  law :  the  mere 
claims  of  humanity  have  no  force  in  the  presence  of  its 
inexorable  requirements.  I  found  no  plantations  with 
a  dozen  or  more  slaves  which  were  not  made  up  of 
fragments  of  families.  Some  of  these  cases  were  of  the 
most  distressing  character :  their  stories  ought  to  melt  a 
heart  of  stone.  A  poor  slave  mother,  for  whom  I  wrote 
a  letter  to  one  of  her  children  in  Virginia,  told  me  that 
Fanny,  a  little  girl  of  six  years,  was  the  only  one  left 
her  of  some  seven  or  eight  children,  of  the  fate  of  most 
of  whom  she  was  totally  ignorant,  and  had  been  for 
many  years.  As  she  told  me  the  story  of  her  wrongs, 
the  tears  streaming  down  her  cheeks,  I  remarked,  by 
way  of  attempt  at  consolation,  that  it  was  a  great  com- 
fort to  her  that  Fanny  was  left.  Little  did  I  know  what 
a  chord  I  had  touched.  Fanny  had  the  fatal  gift  of 
beauty,  was  almost  white,  with  dark  wavy  hair  and 
black  eyes.  "  Ah  !  "  said  the  mother  with  a  sigh,  "  the 
Lord  only  knows  what  is  to  become  of  that  poor  child. 
Oh !  don't  you  think  you  could  buy  her,  and  take  her 
North  ? "  There  was  the  last  child.  Gladly  would  the 
mother  have  committed  her  to  the  hands  of  a  perfect 
stranger,  and  dragged  out  the  remainder  of  her  weary, 
broken-hearted  pilgrimage  alone,  rejoiced  to  think  that 
she  had  saved  one  child,  the  last  one,  the  child  of  her 
old  age,  from  the  hell  of  interminable  bondage  and  a 
fate  worse  than  ten  thousand  deaths.     Contented  slaves ! 


148  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

What  a  horrible  misnomer,  what  an  insult  to  our  com- 
mon humanity,  to  suppose  that  contentment  is  possible 
under  such  circumstances!  I  found  one  man  whom  his 
master  told  me  was  contented  and  happy.  He  was  well 
treated,  never  whipped,  had  enough  to  eat  and  to  wear, 
"sported"  a  gold  watch,  rode  his  own  horse,  —  a  free 
man  in  all  but  the  dreadful  fact  that  he  was  claimed 
and  held  by  another,  like  a  beast,  as  property,  and  was 
compelled  to  work  without  wages  to  pamper  the  pride 
of  the  man  who  claimed  his  service  and  labor  as  due  to 
him.  I  worked  my  way  into  this  man's  confidence  and 
affections  ;  I  learned  his  whole  heart ;  and  I  venture  to 
say  that  there  is  not  a  man  in  this  assembly,  who,  placed 
in  the  same  circumstances,  would  have  a  keener  sense 
of  the  wrong  and  injustice  of  his  condition,  not  one  who 
would  chafe  more  restlessly  under  the  yoke,  or  long 
more  ardently  for  the  liberty  of  which  he  had  been 
unjustly  deprived.  "  Oh  !  "  said  he,  "if  some  man  would 
only  buy  me,  gladly  would  I  work  until  I  was  seventy 
years  of  age,  if  I  but  knew  that  then  I  should  be  free 
and  be  a  man.  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  am  nobody."  A  poor 
man  in  England,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Brown,  became  pos- 
sessed with  the  idea  that  he  had  lost  his  soul,  and  was 
living  a  mere  body  without  a  spirit.  This  is  the  terrible 
reality  that  haunts  the  slave  from  day  to  day ;  his  man- 
hood gone,  his  aspirations  all  crushed  in  the  birth ;  no 
sun  of  hope  rises  upon  his  dark  horizon  as  he  looks 
upon  the  vista  of  the  future  years,  —  slavery  for  himself 
and  for  his  children,  and  children's  children,  not  to  one 
or  two  or  a  thousand,  but  to  all  generations. 

Here  we  have  a  living,  real  metempsychosis  ;   here  a 
literal  illustration   of   the  heathenish  doctrine  of   the 


THE  CHURCH  AND  SLAVERY.         149 

transmigration  of  sonls,  —  an  immortal  spirit  doomed  to 
the  life,  and  subject  to  all  the  conditions,  of  the  brute. 
Is  Dr.  Edward  Bcecher's  conception,  after  all,  the  true 
one  ?  and  have  these  children  of  the  sun  been  sinners 
above  all  others  in  some  state  of  previous  existence,  that 
this  doom  and  curse  of  bondage  must  rest  upon  them 
like  an  eternal  punishment,  knowing  neither  respite  nor 
termination  X 

The  position  which  I  take,  Mr.  Chairman,  is,  that 
slavery  is  inherently  sinful ;  that  it  originates  no  moral 
duties,  only  moral  evils ;  and  that  repentance  and  aban- 
donment are  the  duties  obligatory  upon  those  who  are 
in  any  way  implicated  in  the  crime.  Others  may  call  it 
a  patriarchal  institution,  compare  it  to  the  family,  write 
and  publish  and  circulate  tracts  upon  "  the  moral  duties 
that  grow  out  of  its  existence,  and  the  moral  evils  which 
it  is  known  to  promote."  I  shall  do  none  of  these 
things,  nor  have  any  pleasure  in  them  that  do  them.  I 
shall  declare  it  a  sin  and  crime  in  all  forms  and  all 
degrees,  demand  its  immediate  and  total  extinction  in 
the  name  of  God  and  by  the  authority  of  his  Word,  and 
embrace  all  occasions  and  opportunities  which  God  in 
his  providence  shall  afford  me,  to  raise  my  voice  in  oppo- 
sition to  it.  Above  all  do  I  hold  it  to  be  my  duty,  pain- 
ful though  that  duty  be,  to  declare  that  it  has  no  right 
to  exist  within  the  Church,  and  that  a  church  which 
persistently  refuses  to  expel  it  from  her  pale,  to  bear 
testimony  against  this  sin,  to  refuse  fellowship  to  those 
who  are  implicated  in  its  guilt,  has  no  right  to  exist, 
and  that  the  duty  of  good  men  with  regard  to  such  a 
church  is  to  shake  off  the  dust  of  their  feet  as  a  testi- 
mony against  it,  and  leave  its  communion. 


150  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

I  know  that  the  answer  is,  that  remaining  inside  of 
the  Church  organization,  and  laboring  for  the  expul- 
sion of  the  evil,  is  the  proper  course ;  and  I  have  no 
objection  to  this  where  there  is  any  hope  in  prospect  of 
success.  "  Plead  within  your  mother,  plead,"  is  the 
divine  injunction :  but  a  point  is  at  length  reached  when 
remonstrance  becomes  unavailing,  and  when  immediate 
separation  is  necessary  in  order  to  clear  our  own  skirts 
of  complicity,  and  in  order  to  save  our  own  souls ;  for 
my  own  part,  I  could  never  remain  for  a  single  day  in 
connection  with  a  Church  which  after  thirty  years  of 
discussion  upon  this  subject,  and  amid  this  blaze  of  light 
constantly  poured  upon  its  darkness,  until  even  political 
parties  are  being  freed  from  slaveholding  fellowship, 
still  continues  to  fold  slaveholders  to  its  bosom,  hold 
them  up  as  the  most  eminent  of  saints,  the  very  salt  of 
the  earth,  and  pronounce  all  opposition  to  their  infernal 
practices  a  lack  of  Christian  charity. 

My  conscience  tells  me  that  what  of  moral  power  I 
can  wield  against  the  system  will  tell  most  effectually 
from  a  position  outside  of  all  connection  with  it :  at  the 
same  time  1  must  say  that  those  men,  good  and  true, 
who  are  honestly  laboring  for  its  extirpation  in  their 
separate  denominations,  have  both  my  respect  and  sym- 
pathy. God  is  working  with  them  and  for  them  ;  #and 
whether  they  succeed  in  all  cases  or  not,  they  will  have 
delivered  their  own  souls,  and  vindicated  the  righteous- 
ness of  his  judgments,  which  will,  I  have  no  doubt, 
begin  first  at  his  own  house.  But  whether  we  work 
within  or  without  these  organizations,  let  us  strive  with 
all  the  energy  which  we  can  command,  and  in  the  use 
of  such  means  as  God  has  put  within  our  reach,  to  drive 


THE  CHURCH  AND  SLAVERY.  151 

it  from  the  Church,  and  thus  bring  all  her  moral  power 
to  bear  upon  its  ultimate,  total  extinction ;  for  I  admit 
that  it  is  not  to  cut  off  an  ear,  nor,  Ulysses-like,  to  bore 
out  the  eye  of  this  Cyclops,  at  which  we  aim.  We  are 
feeling  for  the  jugular  vein ;  we  are  aiming  at  the  very 
heart  of  the  monster ;  we  do  not  mean  merely  to  scotch 
the  serpent,  we  are  determined  to  bruise  its  head. 

Mr.  Lovejoy  declares  in  Congress,  the  Caliban  has 
no  right  to  exist :  we  respond  from  this  platform,  that, 
God  assisting  us,  it  shall  not  exist, —  Carthago  delenda 
est,  —  this  proud  system  of  oppression  must  be  destroyed; 
we  intend  to  open  the  inexhaustible  magazine  of  God's 
Word,  to  rain  upon  its  strongholds  "  chained  thunders 
and  hail  of  iron  globes,"  until,  smitten  by  successive 
blows,  its  battlements  crumble  and  crash  and  fall,  and  its 
lofty  and  heaven-defying  towers  are  prostrate  in  the  dust. 

We  ought  to  be  thankful  that  God  has  called  us  to 
such  a  noble  work,  that  he  has  offered  us  such  a  golden 
opportunity  of  serving  him,  counted  us  worthy  of  such 
a  high  honor  as  to  permit  us  to  undertake  this  service 
for  his  Church  and  cause:  let  us,  girding  on  our  arms, 
go  forth  to  this  warfare,  aud  shouting  the  old  battle-cry, 
the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon,  fall  on,  as 
Bunyan  says,  with  might  and  main,  assured  that  the 
41  Lord  of  hosts,  the  Lord  strong  and  mighty,  the  Lord 
mighty  in  battle,"  is  on  our  side,  and  that  the  victory 
will  speedily  be  ours.  We  mean  to  say  to  this  nation, 
"  Trust  not  in  oppression,  and  become  not  vain  in  rob- 
bery. Break  every  yoke  under  the  heavy  burdens,  and 
let  the  oppressed  go  free."  "  Masters,  give  unto  your 
servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal."  "  Proclaim  lib- 
erty throughout  all  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants."     In 


152  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

fine,  we  mean  to  unchain  the  Bible  and  the  pulpit,  to 
permit  the  thunders  of  Sinai  to  roll,  and  the  lightnings 
of  God's  vengeance  to  blast  this  gigantic  sin. 

This  we  must  do  for  the  honor  of  our  common  Chris- 
tianity, in  order  to  discharge  the  obligations  which  rest 
upon  us,  and  for  the  sake  of  those  pining  in  the  prison- 
house  of  Southern  oppression,  whose  cries  have  entered 
into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth. 

Slavery  has  seized  upon  the  Church,  and,  by  a  meta- 
morphosis more  hideous  than  ever  entered  into  the 
imagination  of  heathen  poet,  has  transformed  her  into  a 
vast  power  to  aid  in  the  perpetuation  of  this  iniquity. 
If  there  is  one  reason  for  which  more  than  another,  I 
hate  this  system,  it  is  the  foul  disgrace  and  dishonor 
which  it  has  brought  upon  our  holy  religion.  If  this 
Church  Anti-Slavery  Society  can  succeed  in  any  meas- 
ure in  wiping  out  this  dark  blot,  its  mission  will  be  a 
noble  one,  and  we  shall  have  reason  to  thank  God 
that  it  has  been  organized.  But  this  course  which 
we  propose  is  disorganizing,  will  create  agitation  and 
excitement  in  the  churches,  and  alienation  perhaps 
among  heathen,  endanger  the  peace,  prosperity,  and 
even  the  very  existence  of  the  churches.  Well,  Mr. 
Chairman,  for  one  this  is  precisely  what  I  desire.  Let 
those  things  that  can  be  shaken,  be  shaken,  that  those 
which  cannot  may  remain.  That  which  can  be  moved 
is  not  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  for  it  is  founded  upon  a 
rock,  and  the  very  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it :  the  church  which  rests  upon  the  crushed  and 
bleeding  body  of  the  down-trodden  slave  is  man's  work, 
not  God's.  Let  every  church  be  tried  so  as  by  fire  of 
what  sort  it  is.     If  it  brings  forth  the  thorns   and  the 


THE  CHURCH  AND  SLAVERY.         153 

thistles  of  pro-slavery  unfaithfulness,  it  is  nigh  unto 
cursing :  let  it  be  burned.  For  one,  I  do  not  care  what 
becomes  of  these  organizations,  and  I  am  sure  God  does 
not.  These  may  go  down,  but  the  Church  will  remain, 
for  the  Lord  God  in  the  midst  of  her  is  mighty.  If  we 
thought  more  of  humanity  and  of  truth,  and  of  God's 
glory  in  their  defence  and  maintenance,  and  less  about 
churches,  as  such,  it  would  be  well  for  us  and  for  the 
world. 

You  remember  the  story  of  the  architect  who  con- 
structed the  lighthouse  at  Alexandria.  When  com- 
manded to  place  the  name  of  Ptolemy  upon  its  front, 
he  first  carved  his  own  name  in  the  marble,  and  then 
placed  that  of  the  monarch  in  plaster  over  it.  The 
elements  soon  accomplished  their  work  with  the  plaster: 
the  name  of  Ptolemy  fell  off,  and  men  read  in  the  solid 
marble,  "  Sostratus,  son  of  Dexiphones,  to  the  gods,  the 
preservers  of  mariners." 

These  names, — -Methodist,  Baptist,  Congregational- 
ist,  Presbyterian,  —  we  have  placed  them  upon  the  glo- 
rious structure  ourselves ;  they  are  but  plaster  names ; 
God  speed  the  day  when  they  shall  all  fall  away,  and 
we  shall  read  upon  this  Living  Temple,  this  great 
Pharos  light  of  the  world,  the  name  of  him  who  is  its 
glorious  Founder,  Architect,  and  King. 

All  have  heard  the  story  of  John  Wesley  interrogat- 
ing Father  Abraham  with  regard  to  the  ecclesiastical 
designations  of  that  mighty  multitude  before  the  throne, 
and  being  answered  that  they  had  neither  Methodists 
nor  Episcopalians  nor  Presbyterians  there,  neither 
Churchmen  nor  Dissenters,  only  redeemed,  sanctified, 
and  glorified  saints.     The  time  is  coming,  I  trust,  when 


154  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

these  partition-walls  will  all  be  broken  down,  these 
appellations  all  disappear,  and  when  there  will  be  bnt 
one  fold,  as  there  is  but  one  Shepherd,  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  one  baptism.  Such  unions  of  Christians  as  this 
for  such  high  and  holy  purposes,  we  may  hope  will  be 
blessed  of  God  for  the  hastening  onward  the  chariot- 
wheels  of  this  long-desired  day. 

There  are  those,  however,  who  have  objected,  upon 
the  ground  of  danger  to  our  great  religious  societies, 
to  the  discussion  of  this  exciting  topic  in  the  churches. 
All  are  familiar  with  the  late  action  of  the  American 
Board,  and  the  course  pursued  by  .its  friends  upon  this 
subject.  I  do  not  introduce  this  society  for  the  sake 
of  any  discussion  upon  its  action  with  reference  to  the 
Cherokee  mission,  except  to  say  that  it  is  an  undeniable 
fact  that  the  Board  is  guilty  of  complicity  with  the  sin 
of  slavery,  and  deserves  rebuke  until  it  purges  itself 
from  the  iniquity.  But,  sir,  I  say  that  nothing  could 
so  assist  the  work  of  our  great  religious  societies  as  the 
very  task  that  we  have  undertaken.  There  is  not,  I 
will  venture  to  assert,  a  single  missionary  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board  upon  heathen  soil,  who  would  venture  to 
tell  the  whole  truth  as  to  its  action  upon  the  subject 
of  slavery  last  winter.  Those  missionaries  in  foreign 
lands  who  dare  to  tell  the  truth,  all  affirm  with  one 
unanimous  voice  the  injurious  effect  which  the  exist- 
ence of  this  evil  has  upon  their  labors  as  soon  as  it 
comes  to  be  known  that  it  is  to  be  tolerated  by  the 
Church,  at  home.  The  late  news  from  Syria,  as  to  the 
use  which  the  Jesuits  are  making  of  the  scenes  which 
have  transpired  in  the  United  States  during  the  last 
winter,  in  counteracting  the  labors   of  American   mis- 


THE  CHURCH  AXD  SLAVERY.  155 

sionarics,  is  a  striking  commentary  upon  the  declara- 
tions which  we  have  so  often  heard,  as  to  the  manner 
in  which  God  was  blessing  slaveholding  missions.  I 
never  did  believe  that  it  was  God's  purpose  to  convert 
the  world  by  missionary  and  tract  and  Bible  societies, 
supported  by  means  of  money  wrung  from  the  toil  and 
sweat  of  the  oppressed.  God  is  saying  to  these  men 
now  in  thunder-tones,  Who  hath  required  this  at  your 
hands  that  you  should  undertake  the  conversion  of  the 
world  in  my  name,  and  attempt  to  make  men  Christians 
by  means  which  you  have  wrested  from  those  whom 
you  have  degraded  to  the  condition  of  the  brute  1 
The  degradation  of  the  Tract  Society  is  too  well  known 
to  require  any  comment. 

"We  must  rouse  the  Church  to  a  sense  of  this  terrible 
enormity:  we  must  see  to  it  that  the  leaven  of  this 
iniquity  be  purged  out.  This  is  the  work  to  which  God 
calls  us,  —  one  doubtless  of  toil,  of  self-sacrifice,  and 
of  great  reproach,  but  in  the  performance  of  which  we 
will  have  the  reward  of  a  good  conscience,  the  blessings 
of  those  who  are  ready  to  perish,  the  fulfilment  of  the 
gracious  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  to  the 
end  of  the  world,"  and  the  good  hope  of  hearing  at 
the  last  great  day,  from  the  blessed  lips  of  our  Saviour 
himself,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  to  these  my  brethren. 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 


THE   STATE   AND   SLAVERY. 


The  question  of  American  slavery,  whether  viewed 
socially,  politically,  morally,  or  religiously,  is  without 
peradventure  the  most  important  presented  to  the  age 
and  nation  in  which  we  live. 

While  spending  a  few  weeks  of  the  last  summer  in 
the  neighhorhood  of  the  White  Mountains,  I  observed 
that,  from  whatever  point  I  viewed  them,  Mount  Wash- 
ington was  still  most  conspicuous.  This  was  the  one 
object  which  constantly  arrested  the  eye,  and  to  which 
my  various  travelling  companions  continually  directed 
my  attention. 

So  it  is  with  this  great,  all-absorbing  question  of 
slavery :  it  confronts  you  everywhere.  Open  your 
morning  paper,  this  is  the  first  word  that  meets  your 
eye.  Enter  the  halls  of  Congress,  and  you  need  not 
ask  upon  what  subject  that  excited  member  is  harangu- 
ing ;  for  whether  from  the  pine  forests  of  Maine,  the 
everglades  of  Florida,  the  prairies  of  Wisconsin  or 
Iowa,  the  golden  sands  of  California,  or  the  continuous 
woods  where  rolls  the  Oregon,  you  may  be  sure  that 
the  topic  is  slavery.  Enter  a  religious  convocation, 
whether  a  Presbyterian  assembly,  a  Congrcgationalist 
council,  a  Methodist  conference,  or  an  Episcopal  con- 
vention, and  nine  chances  to  one  the   first  word  that 

156 


THE  STATE  AXD  SLAVERY.  157 

falls  upon  your  car  relates  to  this  all-absorbing  topic. 
In  fine,  I  believe  a  fashionable  church  in  one  of  our 
Eastern  cities  is  the  only  spot  in  all  this  broad  and  fair 
land  in  which  you  are  secure  of  perfect  exemption  from 
the  intrusion  of  this  omnipresent  subject,  —  one  of  those 
arks  pitched  within  and  without  with  Southern  gold, 
and  lined  with  cotton,  in  which  alone  the  dove  of  piety 
can  find  refuge  and  rest  for  the  soles  of  her  feet,  from 
this  overflowing  flood  of  fanaticism  which  is  abroad  in 
the  land. 

These  are  strange  times  upon  which  we  have  fallen. 
Agitation  is  the  order  of  the  day ;  society  is  stirred  to 
its  very  depths  ;  the  land  is  rocked  as  by  an  earthquake ; 
the  bonds  that  bind  political  parties  and  ecclesiastical 
bodies  are  snapped  like  the  green  withs  on  the  arms 
of  Samson  ;  Union-saving  meetings,  with  the  highest 
legal  learning  of  the  metropolis  for  the  head,  and  the 
prophet  that  speaks  lies  for  the  tail,  only  add  to  the 
universal  confusion.;  old  gentlemen's  nominating  con- 
ventions are  laughed  at,  and  the  temperate  counsels  of 
moderate  and  conservative  men  are  drowned  in  the  gen- 
eral din.  And  at  last,  sir,  the  Democratic  party  is  known 
as  the  Ahithophel  whose  counsel  has  always  brought 
disaster.  This  Judas,  ever  ready  to  betray  the  cause  of 
liberty  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  has,  Ahithophel-likc 
and  Judas-like,  committed  suicide,  and  at  Charleston  all 
its  bowels  have  gushed  out.  "  So  may  thine  enemies 
perish,  O  Lord."  Why  is  all  this  1  Has  the  world  been 
smitten  with  a  sudden  madness?  Has  the  whole  coun- 
try been  seized  by  some  strange  mental  hallucination  \ 
Like  men  when  overtaken  by  the  glamour  and  witchery 
and  strange  fascination  of  Niagara,  until  they  leap  into 


158  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

the  roaring  abyss,  have  we  been  seized  by  a  sudden 
frenzy  ;  and  are  we  about  to  plunge  headlong  into  the 
yawning  gulf  of  national  destruction  and  ruin?  Like 
madmen  do  we,  in  the  mere  wanton  will  and  desire  of 
destruction,  go  to  work  with  axes  and  hammers  to  break 
down  the  carved  work  of  government  which  our  fathers 
reared  at  such  cost  of  blood  and  treasure,  and  brains 
according  to  some  ? 

No,  my  friends,  a  thousand  times  no.  We  are  here 
face  to  face  with  the  most  momentous  question  of  the 
age,  —  a  genuine  irrepressible  conflict,  —  God  grant  it 
be  not  one  of  ages ;  a  question  which  presses  for  con- 
sideration ;  one  which  cannot  be  ignored  or  put  off, 
which  must  be  met  and  decided ;  one  in  which  vast 
interests  are  involved,  and  upon  the  right  decision  of 
which  stupendous  issues  are  suspended. 

How  vast  appears  the  subject  when  we  come  to 
analyze  the  elements  which  enter  into  it,  and  the 
various  interests  which  are  concerned  in  its  right  de- 
cision ! 

It  is  the  question  of  the  liberty  of  four  millions  of 
fellow-creatures  of  the  same  blood,  and  made  in  the 
image  of  the  same  God  with  ourselves,  endowed  with 
the  same  inalienable  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness,  and  bought  through  the  precious 
blood  of  the  same  Redeemer :  nor  of  these  alone,  but 
of  them  and  their  posterity  forever  ;  for  the  tremendous 
curse  and  doom  rests  not  only  upon  the  parents,  but 
descends,  not  to  one  or  two  or  a  thousand,  but,  like  an 
eternal  punishment,  to  all  generations. 

Nor  docs  this,  far-reaching  and  fearful  as  it  appears, 
by  any  means  exhaust  the  catalogue.     The  wonderful 


THE  STATE  AXD  SLAVERY.  159 

land  whose  gates  have  recently  been  opened  by  Barth 
and  Spckc  and  Burton  and  Livingstone,  with  its  teeming 
millions,  presents  an  inexhaustible  source  of  supply, 
which,  through  the  slave-trade  as  a  channel,  is  to  pour 
year  by  year  additional  thousands  into  the  lowest  depths 
of  chattel  slavery,  in  proportion  as  increasing  avarice 
shall  demand,  and  additional  slave  territory  shall  admit, 
their  introduction.  In  those  discoveries  which  annex 
new  territory  to  the  already  magnificent  domain  of 
science,  in  those  vast  populations  which  present  to  the 
hopeful  eye  of  Christianity  fields  white  to  the  harvest 
of  beneficent  missionary  effort,  slavery  discovers  only 
additional  sources  of  increase,  fixes  her  basilisk  gaze 
upon  these  millions  ;  like  the  daughters  of  the  horse- 
leech cries,  "  Give,  give  ;  "  like  the  grave  refuses  to  be 
satisfied,  never  says  enough  ;  like  another  hell  enlarges 
herself,  and  opens  her  mouth  without  measure,  that 
she  may  consign  them  and  their  children  forever  to  the 
irreversible  doom  of.  oppression  and  bondage. 

More  than  this,  I  have  no  doubt,  sir,  that  our  country 
is  the  battle-field  upon  which  is  to  be  settled  this  ques- 
tion of  chattel  slavery  forever,  for  all  lands,  and  for  all 
ages  ;  the  day  that  strikes  the  fetters  from  the  bondmen 
of  these  United  States,  seals  the  doom  of  the  system 
throughout  the  world :  and  as  I  believe  in  a  more  glori- 
ous epoch  than  the  world  has  ever  yet  enjoyed,  a  nobler 
order  of  ages  to  arise  than  she  has  yet  witnessed,  so  I 
hold  that  this  will  be  the  ultimate  decision,  the  final 
Armageddon  battle  so  far  as  this  question  is  concerned. 
Xor  is  this  a  question  that  relates  to  liberty  alone. 
Every  element  of  our  Christian  civilization  is  involved 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree.     Two  elements   are   com- 


160  ADDRESSES   OX  SLAVERY. 

prised,  says  Guizot  in  his  profound  work,  in  the  great 
fact  which  we  call  civilization,  —  two  circumstances  are 
necessary  to  its  existence  ;  it  lives  upon  two  conditions  ; 
it  reveals  itself  by  two  symptoms,  —  the  progress  of 
society,  the  progress  of  individuals ;  the  amelioration 
of  the  social  system,  the  expansion  of  the  mind  and 
faculties  of  man.  But  who  does  not  know  that  slavery 
admits  of  no  amelioration  ?  All  social  ameliorations  are 
diametrically  opposed  to  and  at  war  with  it ;  and,  as  to 
any  expansion  of  the  mind  or  the  faculties  of  man,  the 
second  great  clement  of  civilization,  the  laws  of  slave 
States  forbidding  the  instruction  of  slaves  attest  how  far 
they  are  compatible.  Slavery  is  not  a  relic,  but  an 
essential  element  and  condition,  of  barbarism ;  a  state 
of  society  of  which  every  community  by  which  it  is  to 
be  ruled  must  partake  more  or  less.  This  is  a  truth 
amply  illustrated  by  the  history  of  nations  in  the  past, 
by  none  more  strikingly  than  by  our  own  in  the  present. 
The  banishment  of  free  colored  people  from  Alabama, 
the  bills  which  have  passed  the  Legislature  of  Missouri 
to  the  same  effect,  the  banishment  of  the  Rev.  John  Fee 
and  his  co-laborers  from  Kentucky,  the  imprisonment 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  North,  and  similar  instances,  prove  this 
assertion.  The  last  session  of  our  National  Congress 
has  demonstrated  incontestably  that  slavery  is  wholly 
incompatible  with  all  refinement,  and  that,  although 
there  doubtless  may  be  exceptions,  its  general  tendency 
is  to  produce  a  class  of  coarse,  cowardly  rufhans  unfit 
for  the  society  of  Christian  gentlemen.  The  drunken- 
ness, the  billingsgate,  the  bullying,  the  blackguardism, 
that  have  prevailed  on  one  side  of  the  House,  are  the 
proofs.     The   Smiths,  the  Pryors,   the   Barksdales,   are 


THE  STATE   AND   SLAVERY.  161 

the  personal  illustrations  of  what  I  say.  These  are  the 
powers  that  he  ordained  of  God,  according  to  our 
modern  lower-law  divines,  to  whom  obedience  and  re- 
spect arc  due  for  conscience'  sake,  at  whose  instigation 
we  are  liable  to  be  dragged  from  our  peaceful  homes, 
as  Mr.  Hyatt  was,  and  immured  in  a  reeking  prison. 
Need  I  say  that  it  is  the  question  of  our  common 
morals  and  Christianity?  Let  no  man  object  that  I 
am  speaking  about  what  I  do  not  understand.  I  know 
whereof  I  affirm.  I  have  stood  upon  the  soil  accursed 
by  its  hateful  presence.  I  have  studied  it,  sir,  in  this 
its  moral  and  religious  aspect,  by  observation  and  con- 
versation both  with  master  and  slave.  I  have  no  words 
to  frame  the  sentence  which  would  express  the  moral 
pollution  which  is  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  infamous 
system.  The  half  has  not  been  told,  never  will  be  told, 
and  cannot  be.  Take  into  the  account  that  there  are 
four  millions  of  human  beings  who  have  no  law  of  mar- 
riage ;  that  they  are  subject  to  the  will  of  irresponsible 
masters,  many  of  whom  are  the  vilest  of  the  vile ;  that 
the  process  of  demoralization  has  been  going  forward 
since  the  first  existence  of  the  institution,  —  and  you 
may  form  some  idea  of  what  the  condition  of  morals 
must  be  in  these  Southern  States.  If  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah were  deeper  in  moral  pollution,  surely  the  judg- 
ments of  an  avenging  God  did  not  descend  before  they 
were  ripe  for  destruction.  In  no  other  land,  I  venture 
to  affirm,  upon  which  the  sun  ever  shone,  have  so  many 
offences  smelling  to  heaven  been  committed  in  the  same 
period.  I  am  aware  that  these  statements  are  directly 
in  the  teeth  of  those  which  are  constantly  affirmed  by 
men  occupying  high  places  in  the  land,  and  I  intend 


*■ 
162  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

that  they  should  be.  There  is  no  subject  upon  which 
truth  is  so  easily  accessible,  none  upon  which  there  is  so 
much  open  and  unblushing  lying ;  for  this  is  the  word 
that  expresses  it  precisely.  If  I  am  asked  why  our 
Adamses  and  Primes,  et  id  omne  genus,  so  openly  declare 
the  contrary,  I  can  only  reply  that  God,  who  knows  the 
heart,  can  alone  tell ;  that  one  thing  I  do  know,  that 
they  belong  to  one  of  two  classes,  —  the  deceivers  or  the 
deceived.  Byron,  I  believe  it  was,  divided  mankind  into 
two  classes,  —  the  borers  and  the  bored.  Whether  these 
men  are  the  dupers  or  the  duped,  I  leave  you  to  deter- 
mine. Of  one  thing  I  am  quite  sure,  your  common 
sense  will  decide,  apart  from  any  testimony  upon  the 
subject,  that  human  nature  must  be  very  different  in 
the  South  from  what  it  is  in  the  North,  or  the  state  of 
society  is  not  of  that  primeval  innocence  which  they 
represent  it  to  be. 

But  not  only  are  these  its  legitimate  fruits  where  it 
actually  exists,  but  it  has  given  to  this  nation  a  new 
code  of  morals  and  another  gospel.  I  am  aware,  Mr. 
Chairman,  that  expediency  has  been  the  law  of  national 
action  in  the  past  and  in  the  present.  A  nation  which, 
in  its  national  capacity,  even  professes  to  be  governed 
by  the  principles  of  an  immutable  morality,  the  world 
has  yet  to  sec;  no  Christian  nation  has  ever  existed 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth ;  no  one  exists  now  that  has 
the  slightest  claim  to  such  a  title:  but  yet,  sir,  there  is 
no  one  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  in  which  public 
men  trample  so  ruthlessly  upon  the  laws  of  God ;  no 
one  in  which  they  openly  and  unblushingly  avow  such 
doctrines  of  devils  as  in  this  ;  no  other  in  which  the 
highest  judicial  authority  would  declare  of  any  class  of 


THE  STATE  AND  SLAVERY.  163 

men  that  they  have  no  rights  which  other  men  were 
not  bound  to  respect ;  no  one  in  which  a  man  would  be 
a  prominent  candidate  for  the  highest  office  in  its  gift, 
whose  one  open  and  avowed  and  apparently,  if  we  are 
to  judge  from  its  frequent  iteration,  only  principle  is, 
that  this  government  was  made  for  white  men,  and  not 
for  black  ;  the  only  one,  I  think,  in  which  men  will 
swear  to  a  Constitution  which,  themselves  being  judges, 
binds  them  to  violate  God's  law,  while  at  the  same  time 
they  would  not  obey  it  did  the  emergency  arise.  In 
fine,  sir,  if  there  be  any  nation  more  thoroughly  demor- 
alized, I  do  not  know  where  to  find  it.  Not  in  the 
Spanish  Cortes  in  the  times  of  Cortez  and  Pizarro,  not 
in  the  English  Star  Chamber  in  the  days  of  Henry  and 
Mary,  not  in  the  Privy  Council  in  the  times  of  Charles 
or  James,  were  such  atrocious  sentiments  uttered  as 
those  which  the  halls  of  the  American  Congress  have 
heard  within  the  last  few  sessions.  What  crime,  com- 
parable to  the  slave-trade,  already  decreed  piracy  by 
all  civilized  nations,  could  any  statesman  possibly  advo- 
cate ?  what  decision  comparable  in  atrocity  to  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  could  any  court  issue?  —  yet,  in  our  halls 
of  legislation,  the  infernal  traffic  has  its  open,  unblushing 
advocates.  We  wonder  that  they  can  look  upon  the 
light  of  day  after  such  utterances :  what  shall  be  the 
measure  of  our  astonishment  when  we  hear  that  they 
arc  within  the  halls  of  legislation,  in  the  very  chamber 
of  the  Senate,  and  the  tribunals  of  Justice  ? 

These  things  are  not  done  in  a  corner,  but  in  the 
open  light  of  the  nation's  observation.  The  proof,  sir,  is 
upon  almost  every  page  that  records  the  deliberations  of 
our  great  national  councils, —  not  merely  avowed,  but 


164  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

acted  upon,  and  the  national  sanction  in  many  instances 
obtained ;  where  that  is  not  possible,  its  connivance 
secured.  To  such  lengths  has  this  demoralization  pro- 
ceeded, that  we  appear  to  have  lost  all  sense  of  right 
and  wrong,  to  have  forgotten  that  there  is  a  God  that 
judgeth,  and,  like  hardened  criminals,  to  boast  of  our 
shame. 

And  what  people  is  it,  sir,  that  slavery  has  dragged 
down  into  this  depth  of  national  iniquity,  this  Gehenna 
of  abominations,  this  Dead  Sea  of  moral  obliquity  and 
indifference  to  all  the  principles  of  justice,  and  of  open 
rebellion  against  God  and  the  requirements  of  his  law"? 
A  Protestant  nation  sprung  from  a  Puritan  ancestry ; 
the  noblest,  sir,  in  many  respects,  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth ;  apart  from  this  foul  abomination,  the  freest  and 
most  enlightened  upon  which  the  bright  sun  shines 
in  his  course  ;  one  which,  if  it  can  but  succeed  in  throw- 
ing off  this  mighty  incubus,  may  yet  mount  to  the  high- 
est pitch  of  national  grandeur  and  glory,  and  subserve 
the  most  important  purposes  in  the  mighty  march  of  our 
race  to  its  destined  regeneration. 

Its  effects  upon  the  religion  of  the  land  are  most  dis- 
astrous. It  has  polluted  the  very  fountains  of  divine 
truth,  obtruded  its  hateful  presence  into  the  sanctuary  of 
God,  and,  like  another  abomination  of  desolation,  stands 
where  it  ought  not.  If  there  is  any  one  thing  for  which, 
as  a  professing  Christian  member  and  minister  in  the 
Church  of  Christ,  I  more  detest  and  loathe  this  odious 
system  which  is  all  hateful  and  loathsome  to  my  soul, 
than  another,  it  is  for  the  injury  and  wrong  which  it  has 
done,  and  is  doing,  to  the  cause  of  Christianity.  Not  con- 
tent with  trampling  upon  the  rights  of  men,  and  out- 


THE  STATE  AXD  SLAVERY.  105 

raging  all  sense  of  truth  and  justice,  it  must  needs 
pervert  the  word  of  God  to  its  unholy  purposes,  and,  by 
a  metamorphosis  more  hideous  than  ever  entered  the 
imagination  of  the  poet,  transform  that  organization 
established  for  other  ends,  into  one  of  the  strongholds 
of  its  dark  dominion,  and  unfurl  the  black  flag  of  death 
upon  those  battlements  from  which  should  float  the 
banner  of  the  cross. 

I  have  no  time  to  enter  into  this  vast  field  that  opens 
before  me  here.  I  enter  into  no  argument  with  any  class 
of  men  as  to  personal  feelings.  God  forbid.  I  have  no 
ground  of  hope  but  one,  "  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and 
worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into 
the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom  I  am  chief."  But, 
sir,  I  have  to  say  that  I  believe  in  a  Bible  inspired  of 
God,  from  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  to  the  last  of 
Revelation,  in  which  there  is  not  the  slightest  sanction 
expressed  or  implied  of  a  system  so  iniquitous  and  atro- 
cious as  the  one  with  which  we  contend ;  a  Bible  in 
which  oppression  in  all  its  forms  is  condemned  as  sin, 
inherently  sinful,  exceedingly  sinful,  meriting  the  wrath 
and  curse  of  God,  both  in  this  life  and  in  that  which  is 
to  come ;  a  Bible,  sir,  which  if  accepted  as  it  ought  to 
be,  as  the  supreme  law  of  this  land  and  of  all  lands,  would 
abolish  slavery  at  once,  and  sink  it  like  a  mill-stone  in 
the  sea,  never  to  rise  again.  I  believe,  sir,  in  a  divine 
Saviour,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  the  object  of  whose 
mission  was  to  procure  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and 
the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound,  not 
figuratively,  not  spiritually  alone,  but  really  and  actually, 
to  break  down  the  middle  walls  of  partition,  and  to  teach 
the  absolute  equality  of  all  men  in  the  sight  of  God. 


166  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

I  embrace,  sir,  a  system  of  faith,  of  doctrine,  whose 
corner-stone  is  this :  ;;  God  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men."  In  fine,  sir,  I  believe  in  a  Chris- 
tianity fundamentally,  diametrically  opposed  to  this 
iniquity  in  all  its  parts,  and  which  is  in  deadly  conflict 
with  it,  and  which  will  not  turn  back  until  the  battle  is 
fought,  and  fought  out,  and  the  victory  won. 

If  there  be  any  system  which  embraces  opposite  prin- 
ciples, any  organization  which  admits  slaveholders 
within  its  pale,  I  deny  to  the  one  the  name  of  Chris- 
tianity, to  the  other  the  name  of  church ;  and  I  denounce 
as  infidels  of  the  worst  stamp  those  who  are  guilty  of 
such  diabolical  and  monstrous  perversions.  The  voice 
of  God  thunders  in  my  ears,  "  Come  out  from  among 
them,  and  be  ye  separate,  and  touch  not  the  unclean 
thing."  From  my  very  heart  of  hearts  I  say,  "  My  soul, 
come  not  thou  into  their  secret;  unto  their  assembly, 
mine  honor,  be  not  thou  united." 

Nor  am  I  alone  in  this ;  and  I  wish  to  call  attention  to 
this  great  fact,  one  to  which  sufficient  prominence,  in 
my  judgment,  is  not  given,  and  which,  in  the  sweeping 
denunciations  of  the  Church,  Abolitionists  frequently 
appear,  at  least,  to  ignore.  To  say  nothing  of  Wesley- 
ans  and  Free-will  Baptists,  there  are  Presbyterian  bodies 
numbering  more  than  seven  hundred  ministers  who 
have  made  slavery  a  term  of  communion,  and  who  have 
no  ecclesiastical  fellowship  with  slaveholders. 

There  are  bodies  in  this  land  arrogating  to  themselves 
the  name  of  churches,  claiming  to  be  recognized  as 
Christian,  who  have  again  and  again  resolved  that  they 
will  do  nothing  to  redeem  and  purify  themselves  from 
this  sin.     There  are  churches  in  this  city  whose  pastors, 


THE  STATE  AXD  SLAVERY.  1G7 

and  this,  too,  in  a  missionary  meeting,  openly  declared 
that  they  had  bought  and  sold  slaves,  and  would  do  so 
again  under  the  circumstances.  One  of  those  conserva- 
tive men,  who  so  gratuitously  volunteered  his  advice 
last  fall  in  the  exciting  times,  had  his  pockets  lined 
with  some  forty  thousand  dollars,  —  the  price  of  blood. 
Call  these  organizations  what  you  will ;  call  these  men, 
as  I  do,  infidels  of  the  worst  stamp,  but  do  not,  because 
of  them  and  their  gross  perversions  of  God's  truth  and 
ordinances,  denounce  the  Church  of  Christ,  that  he  has 
purchased  with  his  own  blood,  which  has  been  the  great 
bulwark  of  freedom  against  which  the  waves  of  earthly 
might  have  rolled  and  been  broken,  and  which  lives 
to-day  to  utter  a  live  and  solemn  protest  against  this 
gigantic  sin,  both  in  this  land  and  in  other  lands. 

I  was  present,  not  long  since,  in  a  so-called  religious 
assembly  in  this  city,  which  refused  to  condemn  mer- 
cenary slaveholding  as  a  sin  by  a  vote  of  ninety-one 
to  eighty-nine,  in  which  a  prominent  member  arose, 
and  uttered  sentiments  that  would  have  been  appropri- 
ate to  a  slave-factory  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  The  name 
of  minister  cannot  cloak  the  principles  of  the  pirate,  the 
designation  of  church* cannot  sanctify  a  synagogue  of 
Satan.  I  only  ask  that  things  be  called  by  their  right 
names,  and  that  such  assemblies  and  such  men  be  not 
tried  under  a  false  name,  and  the  thing  condemned 
because  of  the  horrible  misnomer. 

I  wish  to  demonstrate  that  a  man  can  be  a  member 
of  the  church,  and  yet  as  thoroughly  and  radically  anti- 
slavery  as  the  honored  president  of  this  Society  himself. 
I  would  throw  the  shield  of  defence  before  no  man  and  no 
class  of  men  who  do  plant  themselves  fairly  and  squarely 


168  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

in  opposition  to  this  sum  of  all  villanies.  I  only  wish 
them  to  be  rightly  described,  and  that  it  should  be 
understood  that  they  are  not  the  church.  But,  sir,  for 
the  honor  of  this  Bible  which  I  revere,  by  the  love  I 
bear  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  I  protest  against  any  one 
connecting  in  any  way  these  holy  and  sacred  instrumen- 
talities of  beneficence  and  mercy  to  our  fallen  race  with 
this  foul  and  infamous  system  of  wrong. 

And,  sir,  it  is  nothing  more  than  even-handed  justice 
that  it  should  be  understood  as  a  fact,  which  these  pro- 
slavery  organizations  must  studiously  attempt  to  conceal, 
that  there  is  a  large  body  of  professing  Christians  —  I 
use  this  word  in  its  ordinary  sense,  for  persons  con- 
nected with  churches  —  who  are  not  only  opposed  to 
slavery,  but  who  will  hold  no  ecclesiastical  fellowship 
with  it ;  although,  at  the  same  time,  this  I  must  confess, 
that  they  have  not  been  so  active  and  energetic  and 
determined  in  their  opposition  and  their  aggression  as 
they  ought  to  have  been. 

In  all  this  I  shall  not  be  understood  either  as  casting 
reflections,  or  undertaking  the  defence  of  this  Society; 
its  enemies  understand  well  the  old  Spanish  proverb, 
"  Throw  plenty  of  dirt,  some  of  ifc  will  stick  :  "  but,  sir,  I 
know  of  no  class  of  men  better  able  to  take  care  of 
themselves,  and  needing  less  any  defence  from  me.  All 
that  is  said  of  the  great  mass  of  those  who  style  them- 
selves Christians  and  gospel  ministers,  is  but  too  true; 
and  never  can  their  recreancy  to  the  cause  of  freedom 
be  sufficiently  condemned.  When  I  see  it  closing  the 
mouths  of  able  men,  and  in  many  respects  noble  men, 
with  this  incessant  and  infamous  clamor  about  political 
preaching,  which  every  one    knows    means   preaching 


THE  STATE  AND  SLAVERY.  169 

against  slavery ;  when  I  see  such  papers  as  "  The  Presby- 
terian" and  "  The  Observer"  and  "  Intelligencer"  bless- 
ing God  in  one  column,  and  cursing  man  in  the  next, 
glozing  over  this  infernal  system  with  honeyed  words, 
and  holding  up  the  abettors  and  perpetrators  as  the 
very  patterns  of  excellence  and  piety,  the  very  salt  of 
the  earth,  the  chiefest  to  be  admired,  esteemed,  and 
their  words  gall  and  wormwood  when  they  speak  of  anti- 
slavery  and  anti-slavery  men ;  when  1  see  journals  like 
"  The  Independent"  refusing  to  pronounce  it  a  "  malum 
in  se"  and  joining  in  the  common  cry  of  curs  against 
Dr.  Cheever,  apparently  lest  they  should  outrun  the  anti- 
slavery  sentiment  of  a  few  hundred  readers,  or,  per- 
chance, lose  capital  in  the  American  Board  or  the  Tract 
Society ;  when  I  see  such  mighty  sons  of  Ephraim  as 
the  pastor  of  the  Plymouth  Church,  who,  although  lack- 
ing neither  bows  nor  arrows,  turns  back  faint-hearted  in 
the  day  of  battle,  trimming  until  rebuked  by  one  of  his 
own  members,  and  chastised  by  w'  The  Tribune  "  for  fail- 
ing as  a  moral  teacher,  —  although  I  find  this  apology 
for  him,  he  has  not,  like  Cyrus,  two  souls,  a  religious 
one  and  a  political  one,  one  for  the  stump,  and  one  for 
the  pulpit,  and  the  latter  could  not  outrun  the  former, 
—  when  I  see  all  this  and  a  thousand-fold  more  of  which 
I  could  speak,  shall  I  not  hate  this  system,  and  oppose 
it  by  every  means  in  my  power'?  When  Lafayette 
was  in  the  French  Chamber  of  Deputies,  the  right  was 
appropriated  to  the  Republicans ;  and  he  took  his  seat 
on  the  extreme  right,  to  show  that  he  was  a  Repub- 
lican of  the  very  first  water.  If,  sir,  there  is  any 
place  in  the  army  opposed  to  slavery  that  would  show 
a  more  determined  hostility  to  it  than  another,  that  is 


170  ADDRESSES  ON"  SLAVERY. 

the  spot  which  I  would  desire  to  occupy :  give  me  my 
seat  there. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  there  any  rational  and  true 
man  who  can  look  at  all  this  and  not  be  astonished  at 
the  condition  of  things  ?  It  is  not  because  Douglas  broke 
down  the  Missouri  Compromise,  however  perfidious  and 
impolitic  that  may  have  been ;  not  because  the  country 
has  departed  from  the  principles  of  the  founders  of  the 
government,  however  wide  the  aberration  here  may  be ; 
not  because  the  North  is  full  of  fanatics,  and  the  South 
of  fire-eaters,  who  will  not  be  satisfied  to  let  things  alone, 
—  not  one  nor  all  of  these  combined,  but  the  great  fact 
that  we  cherish  a  system  at  war  with  all  laws  of  natural 
justice,  opposed  to  the  whole  spirit  and  tendency  of  this 
upward  panting  and  moving  age,  violative  to  every 
precept  of  God's  law,  and  one  which,  consequently,  is 
not  fit,  and  in  his  Providence  will  not  be  permitted,  to 
exist. 

For  all  this,  there  is  but  one  remedy,  —  a  remedy  not 
to  be  found  in  political  compromise,  nor  to  be  found  in 
the  principles  as  yet  of  any  political  party ;  a  remedy 
not  to  be  obtained  by  the  election  of  a  Republican  Presi- 
dent, or  the  reconstruction  of  the  Supreme  Court,  or 
the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  Territories,  or  bringing 
back  the  administration  of  the  government  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  Washington  or  Jefferson  or  Madison,  or  those 
of  any  other  man,  or  set  of  men,  that  lives.  The  only 
remedy  is  to  get  rid  of  the  mischief,  pluck  out  this  right 
eye,  cut  off  this  right  hand,  purge  out  the  iniquity,  pro- 
claim liberty  throughout  all  the  land  to  all  the  inhabit- 
ants, break  every  yoke  under  the  heavy  burdens,  let  the 
oppressed  go  free,  strike  the  chains  from  every  captive, 


THE   STATE   AND  SLAVERY.  171 

obey  the  divine  injunction,  and  compel  every  master  to 
give  to  his  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal.  This, 
and  this  alone,  can  say  to  this  storm,  Peace ;  to  these 
angry  waves,  Be  still. 

Revolutions  never  go  back ;  and  the  one  in  whose 
midst  we  evidently  are,  will  not,  until  this  grand  consum- 
mation has  been  reached.  Genuine  anti-slavery  men 
will  be  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  this ;  and  this 
God,  who  is  the  common  Father  of  all  his  children,  will 
not.  These  battles  of  platforms,  these  Kansas  conflicts, 
these  squatter  sovereignty  disputes,  these  inquisitorial 
committees,  Hyatt  imprisonments,  and  Sanborn  arrests, 
these  Virginia  hangings,  are  but  the  first  great  days 
that  precede  the  storm,  outpost  skirmishes.  The  deluge 
is  yet  to  come :  the  Malakoff  is  yet  to  be  assaulted  and 
taken.  Let  the  politicians,  if  they  choose,  fight  out 
these  side-issues:  genuine  Abolitionists  cannot  waste 
their  ammunition  upon  them,  but  must  direct  their 
artillery  against  the  main  fortress  itself. 

But  what  good  will  all  your  talking  do  \  we  are  often 
asked,  not  so  frequently  now  as  formerly.  Why,  sir.  it 
is  my  trade  to  talk.  Perhaps  I  therefore  appreciate 
it  more  highly  than  I  should :  but,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to 
discover,  all  the  good  that  has  ever  been  done  in  the 
world,  has  been  done  by  talks ;  and  I  do  not  know  of 
any  giant  system  of  guilt  and  wickedness  which  has  ever 
disappeared  from  the  world  but  has  been  talked  out  of 
existence.  So,  sir,  will  it  be  with  this :  the  incessant  agi- 
tation the  Abolitionists  have  kept  up  for  twenty-five  years, 
and  which  they  design,  God  helping  them,  to  continue 
until  the  end,  has  been  and  is  the  most  powerful  instru- 
mentality that  God  has  employed  against  slavery;   and 


172  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

while  they  have  the  co-operation  of  so  able  and  widely 
circulated  a  paper  as  "  The  Herald  "  to  disseminate  their 
doctrines  all  through  the  South,  assisted  by  "  The  Times" 
at  the  North,  I  do  not  think  they  are  in  any  danger  of 
special  discouragement. 

But,  sir,  with  what  weapons  do  we  propose  to  conduct 
this  warfare  ?  With  such  as  are  employed  in  all  great 
moral  conflicts,  weapons  which,  although  not  carnal, 
are  yet  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of 
the  strongholds  of  oppression.  Every  man  has  his  own 
sphere  of  activity  and  influence,  —  not  one  which  does 
not  feel  the  effects  of  this  baleful  system,  not  one  in 
which  we  are  excluded  from  participation  in  the  conflict 
with  it,  but  a  sphere  in  which  he  is  to  act,  and  where 
his  influence  is  to  be  exerted,  and  will  be  felt. 

Are  you,  and  must  you  be,  a  politician,  exert  your 
utmost  influence  that  all  the  power  of  your  party  is 
directed  against  it,  and  support  only  such  men  as  have 
principles  diametrically  opposed  to  this  system  ;  and  hav- 
ing them,  like  Mr.  Lovejoy  of  Illinois,  dare  maintain 
them.  Were  I  a  Republican,  he  would  be  my  candidate 
for  the  Presidency.  I  would  have  none  of  your  Edward 
Batcses,  or  John  McLeans,  or  Fessendens.  Labor  to 
bring  it  up  to  the  high  moral  position  which  in  the  end 
will  be  the  great  element  of  its  political  strength,  and 
without  which  it  must  pine  like  the  two  great  parties 
which  have  been  so  recently  wrecked,  unseaworthy  and 
useless  when  fronting  the  storm. 

Are  you  a  merchant?  be  a  man,  trade  with  the  South 
as  with  others,  but  let  the  world  know  that  your  goods 
are  for  sale,  and  not  your  principles.  Keep  no  clerks 
to  break  up  meetings  of  an  anti-slavery  tendency ;  keep 


THE  STATE  AXD  SLAVERY.  173 

away  from  Union  meetings  of  all  kinds,  except  Union 
prayer-meetings,  and  from  them,  too,  if  they  do  not  per- 
mit you  to  pray  for  the  slave.  When  writing  receipts 
for  funds,  especially  to  ladies,  steer  clear  of  rcligio-politico 
homilies,  and,  if  you  are  a  New- York  merchant,  endeavor 
to  elevate  the  moral  tone  of  that  portion  of  them  whose 
ignoble  subserviency  to  the  truth  during  the  past  winter 
has  brought  upon  them  a  disgrace  which  it  will  require 
many  years  of  repentance  and  good  conduct  to  wipe  out. 
I  have  some  feeling  of  tolerance  for  a  regular  hotspur 
of  the  South,  who  goes  the  whole  system,  slave-trade 
and  all :  he  inspires  me,  sir,  with  a  feeling  of  admiration 
akin  to  that  with  which  we  contemplate  Milton's  Devil. 
An  old  Hunker  Democrat  is  measurably  endurable  ; 
right  or  wrong,  he  goes  for  his  party ;  there  is  a  kind  of 
pluck  in  him  that  sticks  at  nothing.  He  goes  the  Devil 
provided  that  he  is  the  nominee  ;  and  this  may  be  said  to 
his  credit, —  he  will  almost  always  help  the  runaway. 
But  your  Union  slave,  your  regular  out-and-out  flunky, 
your  Gerards  at  the  bar,  and  your  Bethunes  in  the 
pulpit,  from  such  may  the  good  Lord  deliver  us  ! 

Are  you  an  editor  \  let  every  sheet  that  you  scatter 
to  the  winds  go  far  forth  with  oracles  of  liberty  and 
hope  to  the  oppressed,  acting  under  the  responsibility  of 
one  who  has  in  his  hand  the  lever  of  the  mightiest  moral 
engine  of  the  age,  and  on  whose  words  perhaps  the  des- 
tiny of  a  nation  depends ;  let  your  trumpet  ring  loudest, 
clearest,  in  the  very  front  of  the  hosts  of  freedom  ;  clear 
out  the  morals  of  the  community,  and  take  part  in  the 
emancipation  of  your  country  from  this  thraldom  which 
draws  her  life-blood,  and  crushes  her  energies  of  power 
and  of  beneficence. 


174  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

Are  you  a  minister'?  strive  to  free  the  Bible  from 
the  incubus  of  false  interpretations  and  applications,  the 
Church  from  all  participation  in  this  foulest  of  conspir- 
acies against  her  honor  and  purity ;  blast  this  gigantic 
evil  with  the  lightnings,  and  scatter  it  with  the  fires,  of 
Jehovah's  judgments  as  they  are  revealed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures against  it ;  cease  not  to  labor  and  pray  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  oppressed. 

If  you  do  not  like  the  manner  in  which  Dr.  Cheever 
does  it,  do  it  in  your  own  way.  Let  your  voice  be 
heard  for  freedom;  let  it,  not  go  forth  to  the  world 
that  there  is  but  one  anti-slavery  Church  in  New  York ; 
let  not  Mr.  Wendell  Phillips  have  it  to  say,  that  the 
New- York  pulpit  is  one  end  of  the  telegraph  of  which 
the  New-Orleans  slave  and  cotton  market  is  the  other. 

In  fine,  whatever  your  position  in  life,  fight ;  what- 
ever your  weapons,  use  them ;  stand  no  longer  apart 
in  despair,  but  fall  on,  as  old  John  Bunyan  says,  with 
might  and  main,  with  the  old  battle-cry  of  the  sword  of 
the  Lord  and  of  Gideon,  and  the  victory  is  sure.  Slave- 
ry has  no  right  to  exist.      Carthago  delenda  est. 

Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  the  sympathies  of  the  world 
with  us :  every  cold-blooded  defender  of  the  system  is 
sure  to  sneer  about  sympathy  and  sentimentality ;  they 
fear  its  power.  I  would  not  give  much  for  a  cause  that 
had  not  the  sympathies  of  the  noble  and  the  good  with 
it.  That  system  is  in  a  dangerous  condition  that  has 
them  against  it.  I  would  open  the  flood-gates  of  the 
heart,  and  let  this  mighty  flow  of  sympathy  flow  in  all  its 
power,  assured  that  by  this,  slavery  must  be  swept  away. 
No  power  on  earth,  however  strongly  fortified,  is  able  to 
withstand  the  continuous  beating  of  the  human  heart. 


THE  STATE  AXD  SLAVERY.  175 

I  would  appeal  to  the  sense  of  national  justice  written 
with  the  finger  of  God  upon  the  hearts  of  men,  engraved 
so  deeply  that  all  the  floods  of  sin  cannot  wash  it  out ; 
the  principle  of  which  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles 
speaks, — these  having  not  the  law,  are  a  law  unto  them- 
selves ;  principles,  sir,  common  to  all  men,  more  endur- 
ing than  if  written  with  pen  of  iron  and  lead  in  the 
rock  forever. 

I  would  appeal  to  the  Word  of  the  Living  God  that 
liveth  and  endureth  forever,  which  denounces  that  sin 
of  oppression  in  all  forms  as  opposed  to  the  will  of  God, 
in  direct  opposition  to  his  judgment,  and  which  demands 
the  fulfilment  of  all  those  requirements  which  he  im- 
poses upon  all  men  as  rational  beings,  and  as  personally 
responsible  at  his  bar. 

We  have  every  thing  upon  our  side,  —  the  sympathies 
of  the  human  heart,  the  sense  of  national  justice  among 
men,  the  Word  of  the  Living  God,  the  mighty  onward 
march  of  his  own  government  which  is  working  to  the 
freedom  of  our  race,  —  and  are  cheered  by  all  the  prom- 
ises of  the  Lord,  and  the  light  of  the  ages  beginning 
already  to  illuminate  the  tops  of  these  years,  to  encour- 
age us  in  the  great  conflict  with  this  system  of  iniquity 
and  wrong. 

"  Jocund  day  stands  tiptoe  on  the  misty  mountain- 
tops.  "  the  light  is  streaming  over  the  eastern  hills  ;  and 
already  we  hail  the  hour  when  man  that  is  but  sprung 
of  earth  shall  cease  to  oppress  his  brother,  when  oppres- 
sion shall  no  more  be  heard  in  the  land,  wasting  nor 
destruction  in  her  borders,  but  when  liberty  shall  be 
proclaimed  throughout  all  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants. 
O  such  ages,  hasten  onward  ! 


THE   CHARACTER  AND   INFLUENCE   OF 
ABOLITIONISM. 


"  Open  thy  mouth  for  the  dumb  in  the  cause  of  all  such  as  are  appointed  to 
destruction.' "  — Prov.  xxxi.  8. 

"  Remember  them  that  are  in  bonds,  as  bound  with  them.,,  —  II eb.  xiii.  3. 

"  Masters,  give  unto  your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  e<\ual.'n  —  Col. 
iv.  1. 

The  passages  which  I  have  read,  and  many  others 
scattered  throughout  the  pages  of  Scripture  thick  as 
stars  in  the  galaxy,  furnish  a  sufficient  warrant  for  call- 
ing your  attention  to  a  remarkable  discourse  which  I 
propose  to  pass  under  review  to-night.1  "  When  the 
enemy  shall  come  in  like  a  flood,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
shall  lift  up  a  standard  against  him"  (Isa.  lix.  19). 
"  I  have  set  watchmen  upon  thy  walls,  O  Jerusalem, 
which  shall  never  hold  their  peace  day  nor  night :  ye 
that  make  mention  of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence" 
(Isa.  lxii.  6). 

Were  the  author  of  the  discourse  some  obscure  or 
eccentric  individual,  without  position  and  without  char- 
acter, we  might  pass  it  by  in  silence,  leaving  it  to  the 
scorn  of  the  Christian  world  and  the  oblivion  to  which 

1  Review  of  a  discourse  by  the  Rev.  Henry  I.  Van  Dyke  of  Brooklyn, 
on  The  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism.  Preached  Dec.  23, 
1800,  in  the  Third  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  and  Jan.  0,  1801,  in  the 
Church  of  the  Pilgrims,  New  York. 

170 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  177 

it  must  ultimately  be  consigned.  When  we  consider, 
however,  that  he  is  a  minister,  said  to  be  a  man  of  intel- 
lect and  culture,  pastor  of  a  large  and  respectable  con- 
gregation in  a  neighboring  city,  occupying  an  important 
and  responsible  position  in  a  religious  denomination 
which  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  influential  in  the 
country,  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness  demands 
a  different  mode  of  treatment.  We  are  to  remember 
also  that  the  principles  which  he  advocates  are  those  of 
the  Old-School  Presbyterian  Church,  with  which  he  is 
connected;  that  his  sentiments,  however  abhorrent  to  all 
Christian  feeling,  are  thundered  from  hundreds  of  pul- 
pits sabbath  after  sabbath  by  men  who  are  the  chosen 
moral  and  religious  teachers  of  the  people,  men,  too,  by 
no  means  contemptible  or  to  be  despised. 

It  may  be  said  that  I  do  injustice  when  I  charge  upon 
an  ecclesiastical  body  the  sentiments  of  a  solitary  indi- 
vidual connected  with  it.  To  this  I  reply  that  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Van  Dyke  claims  that  these  are  the  principles  of 
the  Church,  and  no  one  has  ventured  to  deny  the  claim. 
I  hold  in  my  hand  a  volume  compiled  of  articles  selected 
from  "  The  Princeton  Review,"  the  acknowledged  organ 
of  the  Old-School  Church.  There  are  in  this  book  two 
articles,  one  entitled  "  Abolitionism,"  being  a  review  of 
certain  speeches  and  discourses  of  Old-School  ministers 
in  favor  of  slavery ;  the  other  entitled  "  Slavery,"  being 
a  review  of  the  work  of  Dr.  Channing  upon  that  subject. 
These  articles,  from  the  pen  of  the  justly  distinguished 
Dr.  Hodge,  state  the  principles  of  the  Old-School  Pres- 
byterian Church  on  this  question,  and  have  never  been 
repudiated.  Of  these  articles  Mr.  Van  Dyke's  sermon 
is  virtually  a  reproduction,  a  kind  of  echo,  rather  a  faint 


178  SERMON. 

and  feeble  one  too,  as  compared  with  the  masculine 
vigor  of  the  original.  I  do  not  assert  that  it  is  a  plagi- 
arism or  a  copy ;  but  I  do  assert  that  it  is  all  here,  in 
this  book,  even  to  the  quotations  from  Dr.  Channing 
and  the  attacks  upon  Dr.  Wayland ;  that  all  the  princi- 
pal points,  definitions,  and  arguments  are  taken  from 
these  articles ;  that  Mr.  Van  Dyke  has  put  on  another 
man's  coat,  after  brushing  it  up,  and  slightly  altering 
the  fashion  to  suit  the  times.  This  substantiates  his 
own  claim  and  my  charge,  that  he  speaks  the  received 
sentiments  of  the  Church.  It  may  be  replied  that  the 
opinions  of  the  Church  have  greatly  changed  since  these 
articles  appeared.  I  have  no  doubt  a  change  has  com- 
menced and  is  progressing  in  that  body.  I  have  seen 
not  a  few  signs  which  indicate  such  a  change  in  it ; 
although  I  have  sometimes  feared  for  it,  as  some  one 
said  of  "  The  New- York  Observer,"  that  it  would  be 
the  last  thing  converted  previous  to  the  millennium. 
Doubtless,  there  are  many  in  its  membership  and  minis- 
try who  heartily  repudiate  such  views  ;  but  it  so  happens 
that  these  persons  are  never  heard,  while  those  who 
speak  are  upon  the  other  side.  But  again  I  ask,  will 
any  prominent  minister  of  this  city  rebuke  or  oppose 
Mr.  Van  Dyke?  Will  "The  Princeton  Review "  ac- 
knowledge its  sins  of  twenty-four  and  sixteen  years  ago, 
and  condemn  such  sentiments  ?  Will  the  "  Presbyte- 
rian'"? Will  any  minister,  magazine,  journal,  or  re- 
view, having  any  acknowledged  right  to  speak  the  mind 
of  the  Church,  give  such  a  deliverance  X  I  pause  for 
a  reply. 

When  Professor  Hitchcock,  some  two  or  three  years 
since,  was   reported  as  entertaining  views  of  interpre- 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  179 

tation  at  variance  with  the  received  doctrines  of  the 
orthodox  upon  that  subject,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Van  Dvke 
was  the  first  to  sound  the  alarm,  to  warn  parents  who 
had  committed  their  daughters  to  the  educational  influ- 
ences of  the  Packer  Institute,1  of  the  dangerous  heresies 
being  instilled  into  their  unsuspecting  minds  by  the 
attractive  lectures  of  the  distinguished  professor  of 
Union  Theological  Seminary. 

The  man  whose  soul  was  disquieted  by  a  rumor  that 
unorthodox  views  concerning  the  Book  of  Genesis  were 
being  presented  to  a  score  or  two  of  young  ladies  in  the 
class-room  of  a  female  college,  preaches  to  a  full  house 
on  a  sabbath  evening,  and  permits  to  be  published  in 
a  widely  circulated  journal  on  Monday  morning,  and 
afterwards  revises,  in  order  that  it  may  be  printed  in 
pamphlet  form,  and  scattered  by  thousands  over  the 
country,  a  sermon  in  which  he  declares  American 
slavery  to  be  a  divine  institution,  authorized  of  God, 
warranted  by  his  Word,  and  sanctioned  by  the  Saviour 
of  the  world. 

Had  this  gentleman  preached  an  indefinite  atone- 
ment, denied  the  doctrine  of  decrees,  of  election,  of 
future  punishment,  of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints, 
or  any  other  embodied  in  our  Confession  of  Faith,  he 
would  have  been  libelled  for  heresy,  and  compelled  to 
recant,  or  else  have  been  deposed,  and  forced  to  demit 
his  pastoral  charge.  But  when  he  preaches,  as  God's 
truth,  what  Lord  Brougham  calls  "  the  wild  and  guilty 
fantasy  that  man  can  hold  property  in  man ; "  defends 
from  the  Scriptures  what  the  Rev.  Dr.  Breckinridge, 
looking  a  Louisville  audience  in  the  face,  pronounced 

1  Packer  Institute  is  a  large  seminary  for  youug  ladies  in  Brooklyn. 


180  SERMON. 

"  the  most  atrocious  system  upon  which  the  sun  ever 
shone,"  —  what  Wesley  defines  as  "the  sum  of  all  vil- 
lanies,"  — nobody  rebukes  the  blasphemy  :  nay,  so  far 
from  being  condemned,  he  is  applauded,  and  loses 
neither  jot  nor  tittle  of  the  respect  and  esteem  in  which 
he  is  held  by  his  co- workers  in  the  ministry.  What 
wonder  that  infidelity  abounds,  that  profane  wits  sneer 
at  professed  orthodoxy,  and  that  the  way  of  truth  is  evil 
spoken  of ! 

"We  must  remember  that  this  is  the  hour  of  one  of 
the  sternest  conflicts  between  despotism  and  liberty 
which  the  world  has  ever  witnessed,  —  an  hour  in  which 
mighty  scales  hang  poised  in  even  balance.  "While  the 
friends  of  freedom  in  all  lands  stand,  with  anxious  eyes 
and  palpitating  hearts,  awaiting  the  issue,  it  is  proposed 
to  decide  this  contest  by  throwing  some  thousands  of 
copies  of  this  sermon  upon  the  side  of  tyranny. 

Mr.  O'Conor,  at  a  treasonable  meeting  held  some- 
where down  town  the  other  day,  informed  the  South 
that  their  dangers  did  not  arise  from  the  politicians,  the 
political  parties,  or  the  press,  but  from  the  conscientious 
convictions  of  the  sober,  serious,  and  religious  masses 
of  the  North,  who  had  been  taught,  and  who  firmly  be- 
lieve, that  slavery  is  a  crime  and  a  sin.  With  an  artless 
simplicity  which,  in  such  a  quarter,  is  beautiful  and 
refreshing,  he  asks  the  Southern  hotspurs  to  stay  their 
treasonable  hands,  and  afford  time  to  the  North  to  cor- 
rect its  false  opinions  :  this,  he  considers,  can  easily  be 
accomplished  by  means  of  various  agencies,  chief  among 
which  he  mentions  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Van  Dyke,  "  et 
id  germs  om tie." 

Approaching  the  discourse  more  nearly,  we  must  at 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  181 

the  outset  give  Mr.  Van  Dyke  the  credit  of  candor  in 
his  general  statement  of  the  question.  He  plants  him- 
self fairly  and  squarely  upon  the  ground  that  slavery  is 
right.  Such  a  man,  however,  much  as  we  may  detest 
his  principles,  or  object  to  his  mode  of  defending  them, 
commands  respect  for  the  boldness  of  his  position,  and 
the  honesty  with  which  he  states  it ;  while  your  thor- 
ough-bred time-server,  who  always  begins,  "  I  am  as 
much  opposed  to  slavery  as  any  one,  but  —  but,"  and 
then  closes  with  his  mean  abuse  of  anti-slavery  men  and 
anti-slavery  parties,  with  whining  cant  about  the  amel- 
iorating influences  of  the  gospel,  and  an  appeal  to  the 
Bible  argument,  deserves  and  receives  nothing  but  sov- 
ereign contempt. 

The  first  thing  which  arrests  attention  is  our  author's 
definition  of  abolitionism.  He  says,  almost  copying  the 
words  of  the  "  Review,"  "  By  abolitionism  we  mean  the 
measures  and  principles  of  Abolitionists.  And  what."' 
he  continues,  "  is  an  Abolitionist?  He  is  one  who  be- 
lieves that  slaveholding  is  sin,  and  ought,  therefore,  to 
be  abolished."  "  Regardless  of  consequences,"  says  the 
"  Review ; "  but  Mr.  Van  Dyke,  more  candid,  and 
assuming  broader  ground,  omits  this  qualification.  He 
goes  on,  "  This  is  the  fundamental,  the  essential  char- 
acteristic of  abolitionism,  —  that  slaveholding  is  sin  ; 
that  holding  men  in  involuntary  servitude  is  an  infringe- 
ment upon  the  rights  of  man,  a  heinous  crime  in  the 
sight  of  God.  A  man  may  believe  on  political  or  com- 
mercial grounds,  that  slavery  is  an  undesirable  system, 
and  that  slave-labor  is  not  the  most  profitable  ;  he  may 
have  various  views  as  to  the  rights  of  slaveholders 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  country  ;  he  may  think 


182  SERMON. 

this  or  that  law  upon  the  statute-books  of  the  Southern 
States  is  wrong,  —  but  this  does  not  constitute  him  an 
Abolitionist.  To  be  entitled  to  this  name,  he  must  be- 
lieve '  that  slaveholding  is  morally  wrong. ,n  Here  we  have 
it  (the  Italics  are  his  own) :  abolitionism  is  the  belief 
"  that  slaveholding  is  morally  wrong."  With  a  candor 
which  cannot  be  too  highly  extolled,  with  a  fulness  of 
statement  which  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired,  avoiding 
all  subtle  distinctions  about  "  malum  in  se"  and  such  like 
equivocations,  he  comes  directly  to  the  point,  and  pro- 
nounces every  man  an  Abolitionist  who  believes  slavery 
to  be  morally  wrong.  Scorning  all  distinctions  of  theory 
and  practice  on  this  great  question,  putting  in  the  same 
category  John  Brown  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Garri- 
son and  Seward,  Phillips  and  Lincoln,  grouping  together 
Garrisonians,  radical  Abolitionists,  political  Abolitionists, 
gradual  Emancipationists,  and  Ilepublicans,  he  stamps 
all  with  the  same  brand,  "  Abolitionists,"  writes  this 
same  superscription  over  all,  and  proceeds  to  denounce 
them  as  covenant-breakers,  haters  of  God,  and  foes  to 
the  best  interests  of  human  society. 

At  this  point  our  admiration  of  Mr.  Van  Dyke's 
candor  must,  unfortunately,  cease.  It  would  call  me 
entirely  too  far  from  the  main  question  to  enter  into  a 
critical  examination  of  all  his  authorities.  I  stop  only 
to  say  that  I  do  not  accept  the  interpretation  which 
Mr.  Barnes1  gives  of  Mr.  Van  Dyke's  text,  for  reasons 
hereafter  to  be  stated;  and  I  repudiate  Dr.  Wayland's 
explanation  of  the  supposed  silence  of  Christ.  I  can- 
not omit,  however,  to  notice  the  disingenuous  use  which 
Mr.  Van  Dyke  makes  of  McKnight,  of  whom  he  says, 

1  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  author  of  Notes  on  the  New  Testament. 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  1  s:j 

"  Let  me  quote  another  testimony  on  this  point,  from 
an  eminent  Scotch  divine.  I  mean  Dr.  McKnight,  whose 
Exposition  of  the  Epistles  is  a  standard  work  in  Great 
Britain  and  this  country,  and  ivhose  associations  must  ex- 
empt him  from  all  suspicion  of  pro-slavery  prejudice."  As 
to  the  standard  character  of  Dr.  McKnight's  work,  hear 
the  celebrated  Robert  Ilaldane,  in  the  appendix  to  his 
great  work  upon  Romans,  p.  760,  Carter's  edition.  "  In 
reverting  in  the  foregoing  exposition,  to  the  fundamental 
heresies  of  Mr.  Stuart,  I  have  also  pointed  out,  in 
various  places,  the  deeply  heretical  character  of  Dr. 
McKnight's  Commentary,  and  have  stated  enough  to 
draw  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  errors  of  that 
very  dangerous  and  unsound  commentator.  Dr.  Mc- 
Knight's work  on  the  Epistles  has  probably  done  more 
extensive  mischief  in  this  country,  than  any  other  that 
can  be  named.  His  '  audacious  heterodoxy,'  as  it  is 
termed  in  '  The  Presbyterian  Review  '  of  May,  1836, 
and  daring  perversions  of  the  word  of  God,  have  been 
most  pernicious." 

I  am  aware  that  one  man's  orthodoxy  is  another 
man's  heterodoxy ;  but  I  am  now  speaking  to  an  Old- 
School  Presbyterian  who  will  not  venture  to  deny  or 
controvert  this  opinion  of  McKnight,  as  expressed  by 
Robert  Haldane.  But  Mr.  Van  Dyke  is  yet  more  dis- 
ingenuous in  his  assertion  that  McKnight's  associations 
must  exempt  him  from  all  suspicion  of  pro-slavery 
prejudice:  such  a  declaration  might  with  equal  justice 
be  made  concerning  the  Rev.  Gardiner  Spring,  D.D.,of 
this  city,  or  Dr.  Thornwell  of  South  Carolina.  Mc- 
Knight was  born,  be  it  remembered,  in  1721.  and  died 
in  1800,  —  a  period  in  which  "pro-slavery  prejudice" 


184  SERMON. 

was  as  prevalent  in  the  churches  of  Great  Britain  as  it 
is  now  in  the  churches  of  the  United  States ;  his  com- 
mentaries were  published  in  1795  ;  and  although  Wil- 
berforce  and  Clarkson  had  been  at  work  ten  years  to 
get  the  African  slave-trade  abolished  when  his  book  was 
published,  he  did  not  find  it  in  his  heart  to  say  one  word 
in  favor  of  their  cause. 

Yet  Mr.  Van  Dyke  attempts  to  carry  back  the  pres- 
ent anti-slavery  sentiment  of  the  Scotch  divines  and 
attach  it  to  a  man  who  died  seven  years  before  the 
slave-trade  was  abolished,  and  thirty-four  years  before 
the  accomplishment  of  West-India  emancipation,  and 
who,  so  far  as  I  know,  never  wrote  a  single  word  in 
condemnation  of  slavery,  or  in  favor  of  emancipation. 

His  first  proposition  is  stated  in  these  words :  "  Aboli- 
tionism "  (the  belief  that  slavery  is  morally  wrong)  "  has 
no  foundation  in  the  Scriptures."  Passing  the  patriarchal 
age,  and  for  some  unaccountable  reason  omitting  the 
beautiful  and  powerful  argument  which  the  apologists 
of  the  "patriarchal  institution"  have  been  accustomed 
to  draw  from  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  trained 
and  armed  servants  of  Abraham,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
curse  pronounced  upon  Canaan,  he  comes  at  once  to  the 
law  of  Moses,  quotes  the  usual  passages,  omits  with 
oblivious  indifference  all  the  explanations  which  the 
great  scholars  on  our  side  have  given  of  these  laws,  sets 
up  a  man  or  two  of  straw,  knocks  them  down  as  easily 
as  a  boy  his  ninepins,  asserts  that  God  sanctioned  slave- 
holding,  that  all  the  Abolitionists  in  the  world  will  not 
make  him  believe  that  God  ever  sanctioned  sin,  and 
that,  therefore,  slavery  is  not  sinful.  To  this  I  reply  by 
a  direct  contradiction  of  the  premise,  and  a  denial  that 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  185 

God  sanctioned  slavery  under  the  theocracy,  or  that 
slavery  ever  existed  there  except  in  direct  violation  of 
his  law  and  will.  This  I  proceed  to  substantiate,  not 
by  assertion,  but  by  arguments  patent  to  every  under- 
standing. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  word  in  the  Hebrew 
language  for  slave,  none  for  slavery.  There  is  a  word 
for  servant,  and  one  for  servitude,  but  no  word  like  our 
word  slavery,  denoting  a  condition  of  involuntary  servi- 
tude ;  no  specific  term  that  expresses  that  form  of  rela- 
tion between  man  and  man.  It  may  be  replied  that 
absence  of  the  word  does  not  imply  the  negation  of  the 
thing :  there  is  no  such  word  as  slave  in  the  law  techni- 
cally called  the  "  Fugitive-slave  Law,"  yet  no  one  de- 
nies that  slaves  are  meant.  We  do  not,  however,  rest 
the  argument  upon  the  mere  absence  of  the  word  from 
a  particular  document,  but  from  the  entire  language. 
Had  slavery  been  a  divine  institution,  as  Mr.  Van  Dyke 
argues,  surely  there  would  have  been  a  word  to  express 
the  idea  specifically.  The  fact  that  there  is  no  such 
word,  is  a  strong  presumption  that  there  was  no  such 
thing. 

In  the  second  place,  there  is  no  account  in  the  Old 
Testament  of  any  permission  for  the  sale  by  one  person 
to  another,  of  a  third  who  was  allowed  no  voice  nor 
will  in  the  transaction :  no  such  transaction  is  recorded. 
On  the  contrary,  all  such  traffic  in  human  flesh,  in 
"  slaves  and  souls  of  men,"  was  absolutely  prohibited. 
It  never  was  attempted  except  in  direct  violation  of  the 
law,  and  never  failed  to  bring  down  upon  the  people  the 
■withering  curse  of  Heaven.  There  was  no  purchase  of 
men,  except  from  themselves,  by  voluntary  contract  for 


186  SERMON. 

a  specified  sum,  for  a  definite  time,  known  and  agreed 
upon  by  the  parties.  There  were  no  slave-hunts  in  other 
countries  for  a  supply  of  servants.  There  was  not  a 
single  barracoon  on  the  borders.  There  were  no  slave- 
pens  in  the  cities,  no  auction-blocks  upon  which  men, 
women,  and  children  might  be  placed,  and  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder  in  the  land.  You  might  have  passed 
through  all  the  tribes  from  Dan  to  Beersheba  without 
ever  meeting  a  coffle  of  slaves. 

In  the  third  place,  the  special  statute  designed  to  pre- 
vent this  crime,  "  He  that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth 
him,  or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand,  he  shall  surely  be 
put  to  death,"  forever  brands  with  the  stamp  of  God's 
reprobation  and  curse  American  slavery,  and  rendered 
the  practice  of  such  an  iniquity  in  the  Jewish  common- 
wealth impossible.  The  law  does  not  read,  He  that 
stealeth  a  slave  and  selleth  him,  nor  he  that  stealeth 
a  servant  even  and  selleth  him,  but,  He  that  stealeth  a 
man.  It  was  the  crime  of  stealing  a  man  from  himself, 
of  removing  him  from  a  condition  of  freedom  to  a  con- 
dition of  bondage,  as  our  slaves  were  stolen  in  the  first 
instance  from  Africa,  against  which  this  law  was  di- 
rected,—  the  very  grossest  outrage  that  can  be  perpe- 
trated on  humanity,  a  crime  in  God's  sight  of  the  deepest 
dye,  and  therefore  adjudged  worthy  of  the  severest  pun- 
ishment known  to  the  divine  law,  namely  death.  Dare 
Mr.  Van  Dyke  deny  this  \  So  have  said  all  the  churches, 
—  his  own  included,  in  its  testimony  of  1801,  previous 
to  its  enlightenment  and  sanctification  by  the  price  of 
cotton,  sugar,  and  tobacco.  So  have  all  the  civilized 
nations  of  the  world  agreed,  by  declaring  the  foreign 
slave-trade  murder  and  piracy,  words   all  too    mild  to 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  187 

express  the  enormity  of  its  guilt.  There  was  no  such 
crime  as  slave-stealing  known  in  Israel,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  there  were  no  slaves  to  steal.  However 
criminal  helping  a  man  to  freedom  may  be,  it  is  not 
forbidden  in  the  divine  Word.  On  the  contrary,  as  we 
shall  presently  learn,  something  like  it  is  highly  com- 
mended. But  the  crime  of  man-stealing  was  known  in 
the  heathen  nations  round  about  Israel ;  and  against  the 
practice  of  such  an  enormity,  God  guarded  his  chosen 
people  by  the  fiery  sword  of  this  express  and  unqualified 
enactment.  Can  any  man  deny  that  American  slavery 
originated  in  man-stealing?  If  so,  does  it  not  stand 
condemned  and  cursed  in  its  very  root,  by  the  law  of 
that  God  whose  judgment  is  according  to  truth  ?  More- 
over, as  if  the  Spirit  designed  to  anticipate  all  subter- 
fuges, it  is  added,  "  If  he  be  found  in  his  hand,  he  shall 
surely  be  put  to  death."  Had  it  been  made  for  our  sys- 
tem, and  designed  to  meet  the  argument  with  which  it 
is  attempted  to  be  supported,  it  could  not  have  been 
more  specific. 

How  many  transfers,  then,  I  ask,  in  the  name  of  all 
that  is  sacred,  docs  it  require  to  transform  this  vice  into 
a  virtue  ?  this  crime  against  which  the  judgments  of 
Heaven  are  denounced,  into  a  grand  missionary  enter- 
prise, and  its  practice  into  the  highest  exercise  of  a 
heavenly  beneficence  and  piety?  "Nobody  pretends 
any  thing  of  this  kind,"  replies  some  well-meaning  indi- 
vidual, about  forty  years  behind  the  present  stage  of  the 
controversy  :  "  the  Southern  people  would  be  glad  to  get 
rid  of  their  slaves,  if  they  could,  but  do  not  know  what 
to  do  with  them." 

I  hold  in  my  hand  the  discourse  of  Dr.   Palmer  of 


188  SERMON. 

Xew  Orleans,  delivered  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  a  man 
of  whom  Mr.  Van  Dyke  says,  "  that  his  soul  is  knit  to 
him  with,  the  sympathy  of  Jonathan  for  David."  From 
this  discourse  he  quotes  a  long  passage  in  a  foot-note  to 
the  pamphlet  edition  of  his  sermon,  with  high  approval. 
Here  are  the  closing  sentences :  "  My  servant,  whether 
born  in  my  house  or  bought  with  my  money,  stands  to 
me  in  the  relation  of  a  child.  Though  providentially 
owing  me  service,  which  providentially  I  am  bound  to 
exact,  he  is,  nevertheless,  my  brother  and  my  friend ; 
and  I  am  to  him  a  guardian  and  a  father.  He  leans 
upon  me  for  protection,  for  counsel,  and  for  blessing" 
(  especially  the  blessing !  ) ;  "  and,  so  long  as  the  relation 
continues,  no  power  but  the  power  of  Almighty  God 
shall  come  between  him  and  me."  Here  is  another 
passage  from  the  same  discourse,  which  Mr.  Van  Dyke 
does  not  quote  :  "  This  argument  which  sweeps  over  the 
entire  circle  of  our  relations,  touches  the  four  cardinal 
points  of  duty  to  ourselves,  to  our  slaves,  to  theivorld,  and 
to  Almighty  God.  It  establishes  the  nature  and  solem- 
nity of  our  present  trust,  to  preserve  and  transmit  our 
existing  system  of  domestic  servitude,  with  the  right  unchal- 
lenged by  man,  to  go  and  root  itself  wherever  Providence 
and  nature  mag  carry  it."  This  chivalrous  sentence  from 
Xew  Orleans,  bristling  with  Dr.  Palmer's  own  Italics, 
seems  to  have  been  rather  uncourageously  omitted  by 
his  enthusiastic  friend  on  Brooklyn  Heights.  "  This 
trust,"  he  adds,  "  we  will  discharge  in  the  face  of  the 
worst  possible  peril.  Though  war  be  the  aggregation 
of  all  evils,  yet  should  the  madness  of  the  hour  appeal 
to  the  arbitration  of  the  sword,  we  will  not  shrink,  even 
from  the  baptism  of  fire.     If  modern  crusaders  stand  in 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  189 

serried  ranks  upon  some  plain  of  Esdraelon,  there  shall 
we  be  in  defence  of  our  trust.  Not  till  the  last  man  has 
fallen  behind  the  last  rampart,  shall  it  drop  from  our 
hands  ;  and  then  only  in  surrender  to  the  God  who  gave 
it."  Well  done,  Dr.  Palmer !  Here  is  the  exhibition 
of  a  courage  second  only  to  the  piety  which  may  reason- 
ably be  supposed  to  characterize  one  who  has  been  called 
to  the  pastorate  of  one  of  the  largest,  wealthiest,  and 
most  influential  churches  in  this  city  ;  also  to  the  impor- 
tant post  of  assisting  in  the  education  of  the  rising 
ministry  of  the  Old-School  church  in  Princeton.  Mr. 
Van  Dyke,  with  characteristic  modesty,  charges  aboli- 
tionism with  being  not  only  a  fanatical,  but  a  bloody, 
spirit ;  and  almost  in  the  same  breath  declares  that 
his  soul  is  knit,  like  the  soul  of  Jonathan  to  David,  to 
this  modern  "  Peter  the  Hermit,"  who  declares  a  crusade 
of  blood  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  slavery,  not  only 
into  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  but  into  all 
parts  of  the  habitable  world. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  law  for  the  fugitive  rendered 
involuntary  servitude  in  the  Hebrew  commonwealth 
impossible.  "  Thou  shalt  not  deliver  unto  his  master 
the  servant  which  is  escaped  from  his  master  unto  thee  : 
he  shall  dwell  with  thee,  even  among  you,  in  that  place 
which  he  shall  choose  in  one  of  thy  gates,  where  it 
liketh  him  best :  thou  shalt  not  oppress  him."  This 
law,  as  explicit  as  it  is  humane  and  merciful,  guarded 
against  the  tyranny  of  masters,  and  gave  the  sacred  right 
of  protection  to  all  under  the  theocracy.  What  a  contrast 
to  the  infernal  enactment  which  disgraces  our  Christian 
nation!  Yet  in  the  face  of  this  benevolent  decree  of 
God,  this  man,  professing  to   stand  upon  the   Mosaic 


190  SERMON. 

institutions,  calls  upon  the  Northern  States  to  repeal 
their  "  liberty  bills,"  in  order  that  he  who  is  flying  toil- 
worn  and  weary,  but  with  the  light  of  the  north  star  in 
his  eye,  and  the  light  of  the  hope  of  liberty  in  his 
heart,  from  the  prison-house  of  bondage,  may  be  pur- 
sued by  the  hounds  of  the  law,  seized  by  the  strong 
arm  of  the  civil  power,  and  thrust  back  into  the  hell  of 
toil,  suffering,  and  woe,  from  which  he  is  attempting  to 
escape.  Would  you  do  it  ?  Not  one  of  you.  Would 
I?  Not  though  opposed,  as  Luther  said,  by  as  many 
devils  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses. 
Would  Mr.  Van  Dyke  ?  No ;  I  do  him  the  honor  to 
believe  that  he  would  not,  —  that  his  words  belie  his 
heart.  Try  him  with  the  case  mentioned  the  other  even- 
ing by  our  eloquent  young  friend  Mr.  Tilton,1  —  a  mother 
whose  hour  is  near,  hastening  by  flight  to  a  land  of 
liberty,  in  order  that  her  child  may  be  born,  not  a 
slave,  but  free.  No  imaginary  case.  Just  such  a  one 
occurred  under  my  own  roof;  although,  unfortunately,  I 
was  absent  at  the  time.  There  were  those  there,  how- 
ever, who  knew  how  to  give  protection  and  sympathy. 
When  pressed  to  stay  until  her  trial  should  be  over,  she 
replied  in  words  which  so  far  surpass  the  noblest  utter- 
ances of  Roman  mothers  in  pathos  and  sublimity,  that 
I  would  scorn  to  place  them  in  comparison :  "I  cannot 
stay.  I  want  my  first  child  to  be  born  in  a  free  land." 
God  bless  her,  it  was  born  in  a  free  land !  Mr.  Van 
Dyke  could  not  stand  and  say,  looking  into  the  eyes  of 
those  mothers  to  whom  he  ministers  sabbath  after  sab- 
bath, "  I  would  have  sent  her  back."     If  he  should  say 

1  Mr.  Tilton  had  delivered  a  lecture  a  few  evenings  before  in  the  Third 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church. 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  191 

it,  who  would  believe  him?  If  he  should  have  done  it, 
who  would  not  despise  him?  Yet,  what  an  account 
that  man  will  have  to  render  who  preaches  such  doc- 
trines in  the  abstract,  or  advises  that  others  shall  do 
that  which  is  so  contrary  to  all  principles  of  natural 
kindness,  to  say  nothing  of  justice,  and  so  directly  in 
the  very  teeth  of  God's  express  command,  "  Inasmuch 
as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it 
not  to  me." 

In  the  fifth  place,  the  law  of  the  Jubilee  rendered 
slavery  impossible  among  the  chosen  people  :  "  And  ye 
shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year,  and  proclaim  liberty 
throughout  all  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof."  No  limitation,  no  restriction ;  the  Jubilee 
was  glorious,  because  it  was  a  proclamation  of  liberty 
to  all  without  distinction :  but,  if  it  had  no  reference  to 
the  foreign-born  servant,  it  would  have  been  a  farce,  a 
mockery ;  for  all  Hebrew  servants  went  out  at  any  rate 
by  the  law  of  their  service.  Mr.  Van  Dyke  affirms  that 
there  was  no  Jubilee  for  the  heathen  servant,  nor  for 
the  Hebrew  whose  ear  was  bored.  The  idea,  as  it 
relates  to  the  latter,  is  too  absurd  to  be  tolerated  for  a 
moment.  Is  it  supposed  that  any  man  who  possessed 
common  sense  would,  merely  because  he  loved  his  mas- 
ter, consign  himself,  wife,  children,  and  children's  chil- 
dren, to  the  latest  generation,  to  a  hopeless  bondage  ? 
Or  that  God  would  have  enacted  a  law  which  would 
have  permitted  such  injustice  to  arise  from  such  folly  ? 
The  truth  is,  that  the  term  "  forever"  in  this  connection 
is  idiomatic,  and  means  only  to  the  year  of  Jubilee. 
The  very  nature  of  the  regulations  as  to  land  and  prop- 
erty make  this  certain.     The  argument  is  fully  elabo- 


192  SERMON. 

rated  in  the  larger  works  upon  this  subject.  If  any 
thing  can  be  made  clear,  this  has  been,  that  the  Jubilee 
is  a  proclamation  throughout  all  the  land  to  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof;  and  that  the  first  notes  which 
pealed  from  every  hill-top  of  Judaea,  on  the  first  morn- 
ing of  this  auspicious  year,  proclaimed  to  all  servants 
the  termination  of  their  servitude.  What  a  moral 
obliquity  does  it  argue  to  find  a  man  desirous  to  con- 
strue every  passage  in  which  there  is  room  for  a  doubt, 
in  favor  of  this  atrocity  !  I  do  not  wonder  that  a  distin- 
guished man  said  of  such  characters,  that  their  God  was 
his  devil. 

In  the  sixth  place,  the  whole  nature  of  the  covenant 
which  God  made  with  Israel,  was  for  the  security  of 
freedom  and  justice  to  all,  not  for  the  establishment  of 
a  hateful  tyranny.  Mr.  Van  Dyke  says,  and  says  truly, 
"  There  was  not  one  slave  in  all  that  mighty  host  who 
gathered  around  Mount  Sinai  to  receive  the  law  by 
which  their  future  institutions  were  to  be  moulded." 
The  admission  is  important :  it  shows,  at  least,  that  if 
that  vast  multitude  of  slaves  which  Abraham  possessed, 
descended  to  his  sons,  the  stock  had  by  this  time  run 
out.  But  observe  what  a  view  this  presents  of  the 
justice  of  God.  He  did  not  simply  permit,  did  not 
merely  "  wink  at,"  this  system,  but  actually  ordained  it ; 
established  it  by  positive  law  where  it  did  not  exist,  — 
established  a  trade  in  slaves  in  the  wilderness,  between 
Israel  and  heathen  nations.  The  absurdities  start  up 
before  this  assertion  like  the  men  of  Roderick  Dhu 
in  the  presence  of  Fitz  James.  "  Thou  shalt  neither 
vox  a  stranger,  nor  oppress  him :  for  ye  were  stroncjers 
in  the  hind  of  "Egypt?     "  Also  thou  shalt  not  oppress  a 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  193 

stranger :  for  ye  know  the  heart  of  a  stranger,  seeing  ye 
were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt."  "  Thou  slialt  not 
glean  thy  vineyard,  neither  shalt  thou  gather  every  grape 
of  thy  vineyard  ;  thou  shalt  leave  them  for  the  poor  and 
the  stranger :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God."  "  And  if  a 
stranger  sojourn  with  thee  in  your  land,  ye  shall  not 
vex  him.  But  the  stranger  that  dwelleth  with  you 
shall  be  unto  you  as  one  born  among  you,  and  thou  shalt 
love  him  as  thyself;  for  ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of 
Egypt."  We  can  explain  the  avowal  and  advocacy 
of  such  sentiments  as  Mr.  Van  Dyke's,  only  by  a  refer- 
ence to  the  blinding  nature  of  a  monster  iniquity.  Such 
men  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  plead  and  apolo- 
gize for  slavery,  that  they  are  at  length  absolutely 
incapable  of  distinguishing  right  from  wrong,  darkness 
from  light,  sweet  from  bitter. 

"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien, 
As,  to  be  hated,  needs  hut  to  he  seen  ; 
Yet  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  her  face, 
AVe  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 

In  the  seventh  place,  I  do  assert,  notwithstanding 
Mr.  Van  Dyke's  disclaimer,  that  the  argument  for 
polygamy,  the  twin-sister  of  slavery,  is  stronger  than 
for  slavery.  I  can  assure  him  that  the  day  is  not  far 
distant  when  his  arguments  for  oppression  will  be  as 
abhorrent  to  all  right-thinking  men,  as  those  of  Brig- 
ham  Young  for  the  accursed  system  which  he  has  estab- 
lished in  Utah.  Polygamy  was  tolerated,  slavery  was 
not. 

In  the  eighth  place,  were  we  to  grant  all  that  these 
men  claim  for  the  system  which  prevailed  in  the  Jewish 

*    S 


194  SERMON. 

commonwealth,  they  would  be  as  far  from  having  found 
any  justification  of  American  slavery  as  ever.  They 
must  needs  show  the  same  divine  warrant  as  they  sup- 
pose the  Jews  to  have  possessed.  They  must  take  all 
the  laws  and  regulations  with  it ;  for,  in  cases  of  divine 
authority,  it  will  not  do  to  select :  all  must  go  together. 
But  how  long  would  American  slavery  last  under  those 
laws  ? 

They  would  pierce  it  through  and  through  in  a  thou- 
sand directions.  Their  enactment  would  be  equivalent 
to  immediate  emancipation.  American  slavery  could  not 
live  a  day  under  single  enactments  relating  to  Hebrew 
servitude.  Give  the  American  slave  about  three-sevenths 
or  one-half  of  his  time,  as  was  given  to  the  servants 
among  God's  people,  and  how  much  would  slave-prop- 
erty be  worth  in  the  South  ? 

But  what  sort  of  slavery  is  it  for  which  Mr.  Van  Dyke 
pleads  ?  He  cannot,  in  accordance  with  his  Presbyterian 
principles  (belief  in  the  unity  of  the  race,  descent  from 
Adam,  and  representation  through  him),  put  it  on  the 
ground  of  diversity,  color,  and  inferiority  of  race.  Either 
of  these  positions  would  overthrow  his  entire  system  of 
belief.  He  knows  that  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men.  The  logical  consequence  of  his  plea, 
then,  is  for  the  enslaving  of  the  white  as  much  as 
the  black ;  but  would  he  dare  to  say  this  ?  What  is  the 
ground  of  right  on  which  he  plants  himself?  This  he 
has  not  told  us.  We  would  be  curious  to  hear  an 
explanation  of  this  point. 

But  I  am  asked  then,  What  was  the  nature  of 
Hebrew  servitude?  I  answer,  a  voluntary  contract 
entered  into  between  two  parties,  and  only  two,  upon 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  195 

the  ground  of  value  received  and  service  performed,  so 
hedged  about  with  careful  and  just  enactments  that  the 
rights  of  both  parties  were  fully  secured.  "  Born  in 
the  house,"  "  bought  with  his  money,"  "  possession," 
"  inheritance,"  "  possession  forever,"  etc.,  are  idiomatic 
phrases,  and  cannot,  by  any  process  of  philological  or 
critical  torture,  be  made  to  mean  "slavery ;  "  while  all  the 
laws  and  regulations  which  I  have  cited,  —  and  I  have 
but  glanced  at  points  capable  of  indefinite  expansion, 
together  with  many  others  just  as  forcible,  —  make  it 
absolutely  certain  that  no  such  system  did  or  could  exist. 
Men  will  not  believe,  all  arguments  will  not  make 
them  believe,  and  are  thankful  they  are  not  permitted 
to  believe,  that  the  God  of  heaven  authorized  one  man 
to  live  on  the  unrequited  toil  of  another.  That  is 
injustice :  there  is  a  law  written  upon  the  heart,  and  the 
only  effect  which  such  arguments  produce  is  to  shake 
men's  faith  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
very  light  of  nature  in  man  gives  the  lie  to  all  attempts 
to  prove  that  one  man  has  a  right  to  the  labor  of 
another  to  whom  he  gives  no  equivalent.  If  Mr. 
Van  Dyke  pronounces  an  appeal  to  the  light  of  nature 
infidelity,  he  may  go  and  settle,  it  with  Paul  and  the 
Westminster  divines. 

"We  come  now  to  the  New  Testament.  We  confess 
our  astonishment  that  he  did  not  shrink  back  affrighted 
at  the  monstrous  character  of  his  assertions  and  infer- 
ences. Slavery,  he  affirms,  was  just  as  common  in 
Judtea  in  the  time  of  Christ  as  to-day  in  South  Caro- 
lina ;  that  Christ  was  familiar  with  the  laws  of  Roman 
slavery ;  that  no  man,  having  any  pretensions  to  scholar- 
ship or  candor,  would  allege  that  these  laws  were  as 


196  SERMON. 

mild  as  the  very  worst  statutes  of  the  slave-codes  of 
modern  times ;  that  the  Saviour  was  acquainted  with 
the  law  that  gave  the  master  the  power  of  life  and 
death  over  his  slave,  and  with  all  the  vast  abuses  of  the 
system,  and  that,  nevertheless,  there  is  no  rebuke  or 
denunciation  of  the  system ;  that,  while  all  other  sins 
are  freely  and  fully  condemned,  this  is  never  mentioned 
but  in  terms  of  the  utmost  respect.  Of  course,  there 
is  but  one  inference,  —  he  approved.  Christ,  then, 
approved  a  system  that  gave  the  master  the  right  to  put 
his  slave  to  death  at  his  pleasure,  a  system  never  matched 
in  atrocity  except  by  that  prevailing  among  us,  one 
which  the  writers  of  that  age  mention  only  to  excite 
abhorrence  of  a  period  that  could  endure  such  wicked- 
ness, one  which  has  called  forth  the  most  indignant 
bursts  of  condemnation  from  all  modern  writers  who 
have  treated  of  that  epoch,  and  which,  more  than  any 
other  cause,  perhaps  more  than  all  other  causes,  con- 
tributed to  the  overthrow  of  the  proud  fabric  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  It  remained  for  the  Christian  ministry 
of  this  land  to  find  this  lowest  deep  of  moral  perversion, 
and  to  baptize  this  horror  of  the  centuries  with  the 
sanction  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  detect  the  monstrous  fallacy  of 
the  position.  The  assumption  that  slavery  existed  at 
that  time  in  Judaea,  is  wholly  gratuitous.  The  statement 
is  without  the  shadow  of  proof.  On  the  contrary,  for- 
bidden as  it  was  to  Israel,  there  is  every  reason  to  con- 
clude that  it  did  not  exist  there  in  any  form  or  degree, 
and  that  Christ  did  not  come  in  contact  with  a  slave 
during  the  course  of  his  ministry.  Will  Mr.  Van  Dyke 
tell  us  what  sort   of  slavery  this  was  which  Christ  did 


CHARACTER  OP  ABOLITIONISM.  197 

not  reprove  ?  Roman  slavery,  he  says.  What,  then, 
had  become  of  Hebrew  servitude?  when  did  it  disap- 
pear ?  "When  did  the  other  atrocious  system  take  its 
place  in  Judaea  %  But  who  does  not  see  the  fallacy  of 
the  attempt  to  sanction  from  the  silence  of  Christ  in  the 
New  Testament,  a  system  not  only  so  opposed  to  all 
principles  of  natural  justice,  but  so  directly  in  the  face 
of  those  tremendous  denunciations  against  oppression  in 
the  Old  Testament  ?  The  sect  of  the  Essenes  existed  in 
the  time  of  Christ.  Yet  they  are  not  even  mentioned, 
no  allusion  to  them  either  by  him  or  his  apostles,  except 
very  obscure  references  to  this  sect  be  allowed  in  one  or 
two  passages.  Are  we  therefore  to  conclude  that  Christ 
approved  of  their  perversions  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
their  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  ?  Christ 
does  not  mention  idolatry :  did  he  therefore  approve  of 
idol- worship  ?  He  does  not  once  mention  or  allude  to 
the  gladiatorial  combats  :  are  they  therefore  a  divine 
institution'?  But  the  apostles  spoke  of  these  things, 
says  an  objector.  They  spoke  nothing  of  the  Essenes, 
or,  at  any  rate,  obscurely,  and,  if  any  thing,  respectfully  ; 
so  of  the  gladiatorial  contests.  They  spoke  also  of 
slavery.  The  law,  Paul  reminds  Timothy,  was  made  for 
man-stealers,  —  an  advice  not  unnecessary  in  some  quar- 
ters at  the  present  time.  At  any  rate,  nothing  could  be 
more  delightful  than  a  discourse  from  Mr.  Van  Dyke 
upon  that  declaration.  Fancy,  now,  this  reverend  apol- 
ogist for  slavery  attempting  an  argument  with  some  dis- 
tinguished champion  of  "  the  ring."  He  commences  by 
calling  prize-fighting  unnatural,  cruel,  brutal,  wicked, 
or  by  whatever  other  epithet  he  may  find  most  expres- 
sive of  his  abhorrence  and  detestation  of  such  brutality. 


198  SERMON. 

"  Stop  a  moment,  if  you  please,"  says  the  gladiator.  "  I 
am  no  heathen  philosopher,  groping  my  way  by  the  feeble 
glimmerings  of  the  light  of  nature,  no  modern  infidel 
appealing  to  the  corrupt  and  fickle  tribunal  of  human 
reason.  I  plant  myself  upon  the  inspired  Word.  My 
motto  is,  '  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony.'  Where  in 
the  New  Testament,  either  by  Christ  or  his  apostles,  is 
my  calling  forbidden  ?  "  While  Mr.  Van  Dyke  is  think- 
ing up  his  passages,  our  champion  turns  upon  him. 
"  Everybody  knows,  sir,  that  it  is  no  sin  to  knock  a  man 
down  under  certain  circumstances.  As  to  its  cruelties, 
they  are  nothing  compared  to  what  occurs  sometimes  in 
families.  There  is,  sir,  as  you  have  stated,  a  child  in 
an  orphan-asylum  in  Brooklyn,  who  was  thrown  by  its 
father  into  the  fire,  and  almost  roasted  to  death.  Bet- 
ter save  your  '  tears  and  shrieks '  for  children,  and 
leave  men  to  take  care  of  themselves.  So  far  from 
being  inhuman,  as  you  represent  it,  we  are  the  very 
best  of  friends.  Besides,  the  Scriptures  always  speak 
of  it  in  terms  most  respectful*.  You  don't  consider  your- 
self 'better  than  the  apostle  Paul,  do  you,  Mr.  Van 
Dyke  ?  Hear  what  he  says  :  '  So  fight  I  not  as  one  that 
beateth  the  air.'  '  I  keep  my  body  under,'  —  a  clear  ref- 
erence to  our  abstemious  habits  when  preparing  for  the 
combat.  More  than  this,  sir,  he  compares  the  heavenly 
assembly  to  the  respectable  company  which  assemble  to 
witness  our  manly  sport.  '  Therefore,  seeing  we  also 
are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses.' 
These  things,  too,  were  spoken  in  the  time  of  the  Roman 
games,  much  more  brutal  than  ours,  as  every  scholar 
and  man  of  candor  must  admit,  before  the  ameliorating 
influences   of  the  gospel   had  produced   so    marked  a 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  199 

change   upon    our   pursuit."     Where   is    the    reverend 
apologist  in  such  an  argument  ? 

But,  then,  was  Christ  silent?  I  answer  most  posi- 
tively that  he  was  not.  All  things  which  he  said  are 
not  recorded,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  world  would 
not  contain  the  books ;  but  did  he  not  constantly  appeal 
to  the  Old-Testament  Scriptures  ?  Are  we,  in  order  to 
please  a  few  contemptible  slaveholders,  to  suppose  that 
he  omitted  those  passages  which  denounce  oppression? 
And  if  those  passages  did  not  condemn  Iloman  slavery, 
for  what  purpose  were  they  written  ?  What  is  oppres- 
sion if  slavery  is  not?  But,  again,  the  great  principles 
of  his  teachings  are  diametrically  opposed  to  all  such 
iniquities ;  and,  were  men  to  practise  them,  American 
slavery  would  terminate  before  to-morrow's  sun  shall 
sink  in  the  West.  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself," — words  quoted  almost  literally  from  the  Mosaic 
law,  with  reference  to  men  of  another  race ;  one  of 
those  two  commandments  upon  which  hang  all  the  law 
and  the  prophets.  Does  the  slaveholder  love  his  neigh- 
bor as  himself?  Can  the  toiling  slave  obey  this  divine 
command  ?  I  am  sure  I  could  not  were  I  in  his  place, 
and  my  neighbor  interpreted  to  mean  my  master  or  over- 
seer. Christ's  first  sermon  was  an  abolition  discourse, 
from  an  incendiary  publication  called  the  "  Prophecy  of 
Isaiah,"  an  anti-slavery  book  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  text  which  he  selected  was  this  memorable  passage  : 
"  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath 
anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor ;  .  .  . 
to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the 
captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at 
liberty  them  that  are  bruised."     "  Therefore,  whatsoever 


200  SERMOX. 

ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to 
them ;  for  this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets."  But  what 
is  the  great  sum  of  Christ's  teaching'?  Love  to  man 
and  to  God.  What  the  great  end  but  to  fill  the  earth 
with  love  and  peace  1  As  far  as  the  East  is  distant 
from  the  West,  as  far  as  light  from  darkness,  as  heaven 
from  hell,  so  far  are  the  teachings  of  the  Divine  Saviour 
of  the  world  from  any  alliance  with  this  dark  and  bloody 
despotism. 

The  teachings  of  the  apostles  are  precisely  what  might 
have  been  anticipated  from  men  who  have  learned  in 
such  a  school.  There  is  not  one  word  of  approval,  nor 
the  slightest  indication  that  slaveholders  were  admitted 
to  the  church.  Slaves  were  admitted,  but  it  is  sus- 
ceptible of  demonstration  that  slaveholders  were  not 
received  into  the  communion  and  fellowship  of  the 
Apostolic  Church.  The  Roman  law  accounted  slaves  as 
pro  mill  is,  pro  mortuis,pro  quadriipedibus, —  as  nobodies, 
as  dead,  as  brutes.  Christianity  recognized  them  as  im- 
mortal beings ;  elevated  them  to  the  rank  of  men,  and 
welcomed  them  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
the  spiritual  commonwealth.  The  early  Christians  had 
all  things  in  common.  They  were  exhorted,  "  Let  each 
esteem  others  better  than  themselves,  in  honor  prefer- 
ring one  another."  Husbands  were  exhorted  to  love 
their  wives,  and  wives  their  husbands  ;  children  to  obey 
their  parents  ;  and  parents  to  provide  for  their  children, 
and  bring  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord,  —  all  of  which  duties  are  impossible  of  perform- 
ance in  a  relation  which  is  one  of  absolute  authority  on 
the  one  side,  and  of  absolute  subjection  upon  the  other, 
and   which    annihilates    the    institution    of  the  family. 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  201 

"  Masters,"  says  the  apostle,  "  give  unto  your  servants 
that  which  is  just  and  equal."     This  is  equivalent  to  a 
proclamation  of  immediate  emancipation.     The  law  of 
American  slavery  is,  "  Black  men  have  no  rights  that 
white  men  are  bound  to  respect."     Masters,  give  unto 
your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal.     Is  it  equal 
justice  that  a  servant  should  have  a  right  to  his  wife 
and   children?     Give   him   that   right,    and   American 
slavery  is  doomed.     Is  it  just  and  equal  that  the  ser- 
vant be  taught  to  read  the  word  of  God?     Give  our 
slaves  the  alphabet,  and  they  will  tear  down  the  prison- 
house  of  their  bondage   ere  ten  years  have  come  and 
gone.    Just  and  equal  ?    Let  this  be  given  to  the  slaves, 
and  the  homes  and  plantations  of  the  South  are  theirs ; 
for  have  they  not  made  them  with  the  toil  of  their 
hands,  the  sweat  of  their  dark  faces  1     We  have  never 
claimed  for  them  that  which  is  just  and  equal,  only  that 
they  be  permitted  to  go  out  free,  although  spoiled  and 
robbed  of  every  thing :  this  we  have  asked,  and  intend 
to  keep  on  asking  until  God  in  his  mercy  grants  our 
request.     This  passage  forever  settles   the  question  of 
American  slavery,  so  far  as  the  New  Testament  is  con- 
cerned, just  as  it  settled  the  question  of  Roman  slavery 
in  favor  of  liberty  in  the  early  Church.     The  passage 
which  Mr.  Van  Dyke  has  selected  as  his  text,  gives  no 
countenance  to  the  system.     I  might  advise  a  slave  to 
submission  and  respectful  treatment  of  his  master,  not 
because  the  master  had  any  right  to  him,  but  for  his 
own   sake.     Granting    that   "  under   the    yoke "   means 
slaves,  there  is  nothing  gained  to  his  cause.     I  have  no 
doubt,   however,   that,  when  properly  understood,  this 
passage   cuts   through   and   through  the   system  like  a 


202  SERMON. 

two-edged  sword,  indicating  two  classes  of  servants, — 
those  who  had  unbelieving  masters,  and  therefore  were 
under  the  yoke  ;  and  those  who  had  believing  masters, 
and  were  therefore  free,  demonstrating  that  Roman 
slavery  was  totally  inconsistent  with  the  practice  of 
Christianity.  So  much  for  the  Scripture  argument. 
The  only  excuse  which  we  can  make  for  a  man  who 
attempts  to  justify,  from  the  Scriptures,  a  system  which 
originates  in  the  atrocious  slave-trade,  which  denies  all 
secular  and  religious  instruction  to  its  victims,  which 
makes  merchandise  of  men,  women,  and  children,  which 
is  the  very  nursery  of  petty  despots,  promotes  every 
hateful  immorality,  and  originates  no  virtue,  is,  that 
he  is  given  over  to  strong  delusion  to  believe  a  lie. 

Poor  Dr.  Thornwell  of  South  Carolina,  and  his 
brother  in  distress,  the  bellicose  Dr.  Palmer  of  New 
Orleans,  despairing  of  ever  being  able  to  convince  the 
North  that  slavery  is  not  sinful,  but  a  most  lovely, 
beneficent,  patriarchal,  and  divine  institution,  are 
already  shaking  off  the  dust  of  their  feet,  and  tearing 
their  raiment,  as  a  witness  against  us.  In  other  words, 
they  are  preaching  disunion  with  all  their  might ;  while 
Dr.  McVicar  and  Rev.  Mr.  Prentiss  (he  should  be  D.D.) 
are  charming  delighted  audiences  with  their  scriptural 
arguments  for  the  slave-trade  with  special  reference  to 
its  adaptation  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  negro  race. 
AVas  there  ever  such  an  instance  of  turning  the  grace 
of  God  into  lasciviousness'?  Did  impiety  ever  go  beyond 
this?  Can  such  diabolical  perversion  of  the  truth  be 
matched  ?  Yes,  by  the  man  who  stands  in  a  Northern 
pulpit  and  approves  ;  declaring  that  his  soul  is  knit  to 
such  men  by  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  God,  as  the  soul  of 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  203 

Jonathan  to  that  of  David,  and  denouncing  as  madmen 
and  fanatics  those  who  will  not  indorse  his  "  doctrines 
of  devils." 

Mr.  Van  Dyke's  second  proposition  is,  "  The  principles 
of  abolition  have  been  propagated  chiefly  by  misrepre- 
sentation and  abuse."  Still  keep  in  mind  his  definition 
of  abolitionism,  —  the  belief  that  slavery  is  morally  wrong. 
This  second  proposition  declares  that  the  anti-slavery 
sentiment  of  the  North,  which  has  solately  spoken  in 
thunder-tones  that  have  carried  dismay  to  the  heart  of 
this  despotism,  has  been  produced  by  misrepresentations 
of  slavery,  and  abuse  of  slaveholders,  which  declaration 
I  pronounce  as  in  itself  a  misrepresentation  and  a  slan- 
der upon  the  most  intelligent  people  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth.  To  declare  that  the  sober,  intelligent,  and 
conscientious  masses  of  the  North  have  been  influenced 
to  hate  slavery,  in  some  instances  to  enact  statutes  for 
the  better  protection  of  the  fugitive,  and  at  length  to 
place  in  the  Presidential  chair  a  man  who  believes 
slavery  to  be  a  social,  moral,  and  political  evil ;  to  de- 
clare that  all  this  has  been  produced  by  misrepresenta- 
tion and  abuse,  —  exhibits  a  recklessness  of  statement, 
an  audacity  of  impudence,  absolutely  inconceivable. 

Yet  this  is  what  Mr.  Van  Dyke  asserts,  what  Mr. 
O'Conor  repeats ;  the  pulpit  in  this  instance  leading  the 
bar. 

As  to  Dr.  Channing's  opinion  twenty-four  years  ago, 
of  some  who  were  then  technically  styled  Abolitionists, 
I  have  nothing  to  say,  —  perhaps  it  was  just,  more 
probably  unjust:  it  matters  not,  —  the  opinion  is  rather 
too  old  for  present  use.  Nor  do  I  care  to  justify  all  that 
has  been  said  and  done  by  the  friends  of  freedom  during 


204  SERMOX. 

the  thirty  years  of  this  increasing  conflict.  I  could  not 
vindicate  all  that  was  said  or  done  by  the  great  reform- 
ers of  the  sixteenth  century.  They  were  sometimes 
rash,  vindictive,  fierce ;  they  used  terrible  weapons ; 
sometimes,  doubtless,  misrepresented  their  opponents. 
But  what  does  this  prove  ?  that  their  cause  was  not  just 
and  good  ?  By  no  means  ;  only  that  men  are  men,  not 
angels.  So  we  find  them  in  all  history.  They  were 
right,  and  conquered,  not  by  misrepresentation  or  abuse 
of  their  opponents,  but  by  the  invincible  power  of  truth. 
So  I  say  of  this  glorious  anti-slavery  movement:  if 
there  have  been  mistakes  or  misrepresentations,  if  fool- 
ish or  wicked  men  have  allied  themselves  to  its  interest, 
—  and  in  what  good  cause  are  such  not  found  ?  —  these 
have  retarded,  not  advanced,  its  progress ;  it  has  con- 
quered not  by  these  means,  but  in  spite  of  them.  But 
how  does  he  sustain  this  assertion  ?  Resting  his  weak- 
ness upon  the  twenty-four  years'  old  testimony  of  Dr. 
Charming,  to  which  I  have  alluded,  he  proceeds  to 
declare  that  we  have  misrepresented  the  legal  relation 
existing  between  master  and  slave.  He  asserts  that  the 
laws  of  all  civilized  countries  recognize  property  in  man. 
This  will  be  news  to  the  great  English  jurists.  But  the 
proof  is  at  band.  In  case  of  a  railroad  disaster,  the 
wife  can  obtain  damages  for  the  loss  of  that  piece  of 
property,  that  "  chattel  personal,"  which  she  calls  her 
husband  ;  the  husband  in  the  same  way  for  the  loss  of 
the  valuable  services  of  that  "  possession  forever,"  which 
he  calls  his  wife.  "Well,  this  is  admirable.  To  say 
nothing  of  the  refined  and  spiritual  idea  of  marriage 
which  it  implies,  we  consider  it  a  capital  idea :  it  has 
all  the  qualities  of  a  good  rule  ;  it  works  both  ways. 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  205 

We  hope  to  sec  it  at  once  carried  into  effect :  by  all 
means  let  it  be  understood  that  the  slave  has  the  same 
right  of  property  in  the  master  which  the  master  has  in 
the  slave.  As  the  property  is  mutual,  a  kind  of  joint 
stock  in  the  case  of  the  husband  and  wife,  so  let  it  be 
with  the  master  and  slave,  —  the  latter  having  as  sacred 
a  right  to  sell  the  former,  or  his  wife  and  children,  as 
the  former  has  thus  to  deal  with  him.  With  this 
arrangement  I  should  be  quite  satisfied. 

Again,  he  complains  of  the  manner  in  which  Aboli- 
tionists have  employed  those  instances  of  cruelty  which 
are  so  frequent  in  all  slaveholding  communities  ;  avers 
that,  upon  the  same  principle,  we  might  condemn  the 
family  ;  husbands  abuse  wives  ;  wives,  husbands  ;  some- 
times parents,  children  ;  children,  parents,  etc.  To  this 
I  reply  that  it  is  an  old  rule,  and  a  logical  one,  that 
"The  tree  is  known  by  his  fruit,"  —  one  that  we  are 
warranted  to  apply,  "  Ye  shall  know  them  by  their 
fruits."  Thus  men  have  argued  against  all  tyrannies 
and  oppressions  since  the  world  began :  thus  would  Ave 
test  the  family  relation.  If  it  was  found  productive  of 
more  evil  than  of  compensatory  good,  the  fruitful  parent 
of  vices  and  miseries  rather  than  of  happiness  and  vir- 
tue, we  would  all  say  at  once,  "  Down  with  it !  "  This 
trick,  however,  which  the  apologists  and  defenders  of 
slavery  have,  of  incessantly  comparing  it  to  the  family, 
is  deceptive.  The  comparison  is  absolutely  blasphemous. 
The  family  is  a  divine  institution,  older  than  the  Church, 
older  than  the  commonwealth ;  the  parent  of  both, 
originating  in  the  Divine  love,  crowned  through  all  the 
ages  with  the  richest  blessings,  "  The  purest  source  of 
bliss  that  has  survived  the  fall."     Slavery  is  simple  op- 


206  SERMON. 

pression,  originating  in  man's  pride  and  covetousness, 
prompted  and  impelled  by  Mammon,  "  the  least  erected 
spirit  that  fell  from  heaven."  The  very  point  which 
clinches  the  argument  against  this  system,  and  brands 
it  with  Heaven's  reprobation  and  curse,  is  the  undeni- 
able fact,  that  it  forbids  marriage,  subverts  the  family, 
and  renders  either  impossible. 

There  has  been  no  misrepresentation,  however.  The 
man  is  yet  to  be  born  who  can  paint  slavery  in  its  true 
colors.  The  word  is  yet  to  be  coined  which  expresses 
the  combination  of  wickedness  which  constitutes  its 
essence.  Could  it  rise  in  all  its  dreadful  lineaments 
before  the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world  to-night,  its  doom 
would  be  sealed  before  to-morrow's  dawn.  Mr.  Van 
Dyke  talks  about  Christian  families  in  the  South,  in 
which  the  slaves  are  well  fed,  well  clothed,  and  kindly 
treated.  Suppose  it  granted :  .  how  many,  I  ask,  of 
these  millions  of  slaves,  are  in  the  family  of  the  master, 
or  in  any  way  connected  with  it  ?  They  toil  during  the 
day  upon  the  plantation,  under  the  eye  of  the  overseer 
or  under-driver ;  pass  the  night  in  cabins  more  or  less 
comfortable,  according  to  the  ability  or  humanity  of  the 
owner,  but  always  separated  from  the  mansion,  of  course. 
They  have  no  more  connection  with  the  master's  family 
than  his  horses  and  mules,  not  a  particle  ;  and  in  ninety- 
nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred  as  little  effort  is  made  for 
their  improvement.  Talk  about  families, — mockery  of 
mockeries !  Why,  I  have  seen  a  slaveholder  upon  his 
horse,  with  his  gun  in  his  hand,  followed  by  his  dogs, 
out  upon  the  hunt  of  a  runaway  slave.  Fancy  a  father 
pursuing  his  son  or  daughter  in  that  style  !  I  have  seen 
a  slave-girl   rise   from   the    side    of  her  mistress,   and 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  207 

hobble  across  the  floor,  confined  by  fetters  which  clanked 
like  those  of  a  prisoner  in  his  cell,  to  prevent  her  from 
flying  to  the  woods,  as  she  had  formerly  done,  to  escape 
the  infernal  tortures  which  that  mistress  inflicted  upon 
her  in  outbreaks  of  passion.  A  mother  might  thus 
treat  her  daughter,  but  would  it  be  tolerated  \  I  have 
seen  the  face  of  a  babe  six  months  old  streaming  with 
blood,  from  a  cut  inflicted  by  the  lash  of  the  whip  of 
an  overseer,  who,  in  his  reckless  haste,  had  aimed  the 
blow  at  the  nurse  who  held  it  in  her  arms.  But  I  for- 
bear ;  and  yet  Mr.  Van  Dyke  dares  to  talk  about  mis- 
representation, and  asks  us  to  send  back  the  fugitive 
who  is  escaping  from  such  service. 

But  let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  ordinary  slave-life 
separated  from  these  cruelties.  I  mean  separated  in 
imagination,  for  in  reality  they  never  are,  and  cannot 
be :  they  belong  to  the  system.  If  you  keep  men  slaves, 
you  must  treat  them  harshly.  The  relation  is  one  of 
wrong  inflicted  upon  the  one  side,  and  received  upon  the 
other :  it  never  can  be  harmonious.  This  is  the  apology 
I  make  for  the  Southern  people.  They  are  no  worse 
than  others  :  they  are  not  devils  incarnate.  The  system 
makes  them  what  they  are,  and  compels  these  cruelties. 
They  know  it  themselves,  and  in  many  instances  deplore 
it.  But  let  us  look  at  this  mode  of  existence  apart 
from  this  cruelty.  Go  with  me,  then,  to  a  Kentucky 
tobacco  plantation.  At  early  dawn  you  hear  the  horn 
of  the  overseer.  As  soon  as  it  is  possible  to  see,  men, 
women,  and  children,  of  sufficient  age  ready  for  work, 
march  to  the  field,  and  work  until  breakfast.  Breakfast 
consists  of  a  large  piece  of  corn-bread  and  fat  meat 
(enough   of  both),   with   water   to    drink ;    dinner  the 


208  SERMOX. 

same.  I  have  sat  by  a  poor  fellow  upon  his  log  as  he 
ate  his  unsavory  meal ;  and  when  he  said  to  me,  "  Don't 
you  think  we  poor  negroes  have  a  hard  time  of  if?" 
I  felt  that  that  was  indeed  a  hard  life  :  and  as  I  looked 
to  the  blue  heavens  above,  I  wondered  that  the  arm  of 
the  Almighty  was  not  extended  for  their  deliverance. 
Supper  in  the  cabins,  with  some  additions,  provided 
the  females  are  not  too  much  fatigued  to  prepare  it. 
Thus  passes  one  weary  day  after  another,  in  tiresome 
monotony,  varied  only  by  diversity  of  tasks,  or  such 
incidents  as  may  be  supposed  to  arise  from  such  a  life, 
—  no  hope,  no  object  in  view,  no  stimulus  but  the  fear 
of  punishment,  no  possibility  of  improvement ;  hedged 
around  on  all  sides  by  an  iron  necessity  that  permits  no 
alleviation,  yet  an  immortal  being,  susceptible  of  all 
degrees  of  improvement  and  happiness,  and  painfully 
conscious  of  the  injustice  of  the  dreadful  doom  that 
oppresses  and  crushes  him.  Such  is  the  life  of  the 
unhappy  victim  of  this  atrocious  tyranny. 

I  speak  what  I  have  seen,  and  know  whereof  I  affirm. 
I  have  read  and  listened  to  the  speeches  of  others,  and 
have  spoken  myself,  but  always  with  the  consciousness 
of  how  far  short  all  come  of  the  reality.  Slavery  to  be 
known  must  be  seen,  not  upon  the  surface,  but  as  it  is. 
I  have  yet  to  look  the  candid  man  in  the  face  who  has 
studied  it,  who  will  not  confess  that  it  is  a  system  of 
unparalleled  atrocity ;  that  cruelty  is  the  rule,  and  kind- 
ness the  exception.  Anti-slavery  men,  however,  have 
never  failed  to  insist  that  the  sin  consists  in  the  relation. 
The  self-evident  truths  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, and  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  have  formed  the 
great  staple  of  their  addresses.     These  are  the  principles 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLTTIOXISM.  209 

which  they  have  attempted  to  instil  into  the  minds  of 
the  community.  If  poisonous  milk,  it  comes  from  a 
source  whence  such  streams  have  not  been  generally 
supposed  to  flow. 

The  misrepresentation  and  abuse,  however,  have  come 
from  the  other  side.  The  Abolitionists  have  been  the 
best  abused  men  in  the  country.  Sometimes  it  has  come 
from  dainty  hands :  pulpit,  press,  and  platform  have 
vied  in  the  ignoble  strife  of  coining  and  applying  oppro- 
brious epithets  to  the  men  who  have  led  in  this  conflict. 
These  have  been  mobbed,  hooted,  hissed,  pelted  with 
unmerchantable  eggs,  exposed  to  popular  violence,  and 
to  every  indignity  and  danger ;  politically,  socially,  re- 
ligiously, ostracized ;  denounced  as  Infidels,  Socialists, 
Jacobins,  and  whatever  else  might  be  considered  odious 
and  contemptible.  If,  stung  by  such  envenomed  arrows, 
they  have  sometimes  turned  upon  the  foe,  and  hurled 
back  the  charge  in  words  somewhat  expressive,  and  not 
always  too  carefully  chosen,  who  can  wonder?  I  re- 
member when' I  was  a  boy,  William  Allen,  a  noble  fel- 
low, son  of  a  Presbyterian  slaveholding  minister  of 
Alabama,  who  had  been  a  student  of  old  Dr.  Beecher 
in  Lane  Seminary,  and  who  gave  up  time  and  wealth 
for  this  cause.  One  morning  I  observed  that  his  cloak 
was  very  much  spattered  with  eggs.  I  proposed  to 
scrape  them  off;  but  he  coolly  remarked  that  it  was  no 
sort  of  use,  as  he  would  only  get  as  many  more  at  the 
next  place. 

"Wendell  Phillips,  the  most  magnificent  orator  of  the 
country,  Calvinistic  in  theology,  though  often  denounced 
as  an  infidel,  is  followed  to  his  home  by  a  hooting,  howl- 
ing mob,  his  life  protected  by  friends  and  the  police ; 


210  SERMOX. 

but  who  disturbs  Mr.  Van  Dyke,  while  uttering  his  dia- 
tribe against  Abolitionists  in  Brooklyn  ?  He  expends  a 
good  deal  of  superfluous  patriotism  over  a  book  which 
he  saw  in  Scotland,  whose  frontispiece  was  a  picture  of  a 
man  with  a  fierce  countenance  beating  a  naked  woman. 
Now,  I  can  say  to  Mr.  Van  Dyke  that  a  member  of  his 
own  denomination  in  full  communion,  boasted  to  me  of 
doing  that  very  thing.  I  can  give  him  name  and  ad- 
dress if  he  desires  it.  He  abuses  the  American  Anti- 
Slavery  Society  without  measure,  and  then  displays  his 
blundering  ignorance  by  asserting  that  "  Its  president  is 
a  chief  justice  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey."  This  will 
be  news  to  Mr.  Garrison.  Who  is  this  chief  justice 
who  occupies  the  honorable  position  of  president  of  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society] 

He  closes  this  head  with  this  soothing  and  Christ- 
like declaration :  "  I  believe  in  the  liberty  of  the  press, 
and  in  freedom  of  speech ;  but  I  do  not  believe  that  any 
man  has  the  right  before  God,  or  in  the  eye  of  civilized 
law,  to  speak  and  publish  what  he  pleases  without  re- 
gard to  the  consequences.  With  the  conscientious  con- 
victions of  our  fellow-citizens,  neither  we  nor  the  law 
have  any  right  to  interfere ;  but  the  law  ought  to  pro- 
tect all  men  from  the  utterance  of  libellous  words,  whose 
only  effect  is  to  create  division  and  strife.  I  trust  and 
pray,  and  call  upon  you  to  unite  with  me  in  the  suppli- 
cation, that  God  will  give  Abolitionists  repentance  and  a 
better  mind,  so  that,  in  time  to  come,  they  may  at  least 
propagate  their  principles  in  decent  and  respectful 
language." 

Here  is  his  third  statement :  "  AhoJitionlsm"  (namely, 
the  belief  that  slavery  is  morally  wrong)  "  leads  in  mul- 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  211 

titades  of  cases,  and  bj/  a  logical  process,  to  utter  infidelity" 
We  may  safely  challenge  the  world  upon  this  proposi- 
tion :  it  has  never  been  matched.  The  assertion  that 
the  belief  that  slavery  is  morally  wrong,  leads,  by  a  logi- 
cal process,  to  utter  infidelity,  is  too  absurd  to  merit  a  re- 
ply, and  is  worthy  of  one  who  could  declare,  as  Mr.  Van 
Dyke  does,  that  "  when  Paul  stood  upon  Mars'  Hill,  he 
was  surrounded  by  ten  thousand  times  as  many  slave- 
holders as  there  were  idols  in  the  city."  Athens,  at 
this  period,  was  crowded  with  idols  beyond  the  power 
of  computation.  The  Roman  satirist,  Petronius,  declares 
that  it  was  easier  to  find  a  god  in  Athens  than  a  man, 
but  Mr.  Van  Dyke  makes  the  ratio  to  be  ten  thousand 
slaveholders  to  a  single  idol.  Pausanias,  who  had  some 
acquaintance  with  the  condition  of  things,  declared  that, 
replete  as  the  whole  of  Greece  was  with  objects  of  de- 
votion, there  were  more  in  Athens  than  in  all  the  rest 
of  the  country.  This  statement  would  give  the  city,  at 
that  time,  a  population  of  some  hundreds  of  millions. 
To  such  an  extent  did  they  abound,  that  Pliny  declares 
"  that  many  volumes  would  but  contain  something,  since 
no  man  can  speak  of  the  whole."  Yet  Mr.  Van  Dyke 
says  ten  thousand  slaveholders  to  every  idol.  Poor  man ! 
he  is  so  delighted  with  slaveholders,  and  his  mind  has 
so  long  dwelt  upon  them  and  their  divine  institution, 
that  he  sees  them  swarming  in  every  direction.  The 
declaration  is  important  in  this  connection,  inasmuch  as 
it  shows  that  lie  is  no  infidel,  and  by  no  means  affected 
with  incredulity.  But  to  return  to  the  proposition :  it 
is  absolutely  incredible  how  any  man  in  his  senses 
could  have  ventured  such  a  monstrous  declaration. 
"Why,   my  friends,   I    do  not  believe  there  is   a  score 


212  SEKMOX. 

of  you  here  to-night,  however  much  you  may  differ  from 
me  on  certain  aspects,  who  believe  slavery  to  be  right. 
Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  you  were  on  the  broad 
road  to  infidelity'?  in  fact,  that  you  are  already  sus- 
pended over  its  yawning  abyss  by  a  hair,  more  attenu- 
ated than  that  which  held  the  sword  of  Damocles'? 
that  the  only  hope  for  you  is  the  balm  of  a  pro-slavery 
gospel,  dispensed  by  the  physician  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  Brooklyn?  To  make  belief  in  American 
slavery  as  a  divine  institution  the  pit  actum  saliens,  the 
starting-point  of  a  life  of  faith,  its  denial  the  gate  that 
leads  to  utter  perdition,  —  that,  too,  by  a  minister, — 
exhausts  my  astonishment.  But  it  is  here,  and  must  be 
met.  Well,  then,  to  go  no  farther  back,  American 
abolitionism  is  the  daughter  of  British  ;  the  discussion 
and  accomplishment  of  West-India  emancipation  origi- 
nated, to  a  very  great  extent,  the  anti-slavery  move- 
ment of  the  United  States.  Were  the  Abolitionists  of 
Great  Britain  infidels  "?  Wilberforce,  Clarkson,  Sharpe, 
Stephen,  Stanley,  and  all  the  men  of  that  generation, 
or  any  part  of  them,  or  did  they  ever  become  infidels  1 
Did  not  the  churches  of  Great  Britain,  with  one  united 
voice,  concur  ?  and  do  they  not  believe  with  us,  and 
against  Mr.  Van  Dyke  and  his  associates,  that  slavery 
is  a  moral  wrong  1 

In  the  year  1857  an  address  was  prepared  and  sent 
by  the  Protestants  of  France  to  the  churches  of  this 
country,  upon  the  subject  of  slavery :  in  this  address 
they  declare,  "AYith  respect  to  ourselves  we  feel  it 
incumbent  upon  us  to  say  publicly,  that  there  is  not  one 
partisan  of  slavery  among  us.  There  is  not  among  us 
one  single  Christian  who  is  able  to  reconcile  with  the 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  213 

law  of  love  and  holiness  the  possession  of  man  Inj  man 
(they  evidently  were  ignorant  of  Mr.  Van  Dyke's  hus- 
band-and-wife  illustration),  the  sale  in  the  market-place 
of  immortal  beings,  the  barbarous  rupture  of  the  family 
tie,  the  suppression  of  marriage,  the  inevitable  multipli- 
cation of  immoral  relations."  Nearly  six  thousand  sig- 
natures of  French  Protestants  were  attached  to  this 
address.  We  have  yet  to  learn  that  the  Protestants  of 
France  are  infidels.  Similar  addresses  were  in  prepara- 
tion in  Switzerland  and  Germany ;  but  whether  they 
were  completed  and  sent,  we  are  not  informed.  The 
address  of  the  French  found  its  way  into  but  few  of  the 
journals  of  this  country,  and  the  great  mass  of  profess- 
ing Christians  are  yet  ignorant  that  such  a  document  is 
in  existence. 

Is  our  author  ignorant  that  there  are  in  our  own  land 
Presbyterian  churches,  with  a  ministry  numbering  more 
than  seven  hundred,  and  a  correspondent  membership, 
who  declare  slavery  a  sin  against  God,  and  admit  no 
slaveholder  to  their  communion  ?  Has  he  forgotten  the 
entire  Methodist  Church,  which,  however  inconsistent 
in  practice,  has  never  gone  so  far  as  to  embody  the  doc- 
trine of  the  "  immaculate  conception  "  of  slavery  into 
their  creed,  but  the  opposite  ?  Or  the  New-School  Pres- 
byterians, who  have  never  expunged,  as  the  Old  School 
have,  the  early  testimony  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
against  slavery  as  man-stealing  ?  How  has  he  over- 
looked the  great  mass  of  Congregationalists,  Wesleyans, 
the  Free-will  Baptists,  etc.,  all  of  whom  assert  its  sinful- 
ness, and  deny  that  it  has  any  sanction,  either  in  the  Old 
or  New  Testament  ?  I  do  not  say  that  these  denomina- 
tions have  done  their  whole  duty,  or  any  thing  like  it, 


214  SERMON. 

upon  this  subject ;  but  they  are  all  included  in  the  defi- 
nition which  he  has  given  of  abolitionism,  —  the  belief 
that  slavery  is  morally  wrong.  I  affirm  that  the  man 
who  gives  such  a  definition,  and  then  proceeds  to  assert 
that  this  belief  leads  by  a  logical  necessity  to  infidelity, 
and  attempts  to  prove  it,  utters  a  viler  slander  against 
the  Church  of  God  than  any  infidel  of  this  or  any  other 
age  has  ever  mouthed,  is  himself  guilty  of  infidelity  of 
the  very  worst  and  most  dangerous  character,  and  that 
such  assertions  from  the  mouth  of  orthodox  ministers 
will  do  more  to  produce  infidelity  than  all  the  harangues 
of  all  the  infidel  conventions  that  will  be  held  until  the 
days  of  the  millennium. 

But  how  does  he  attempt  to  establish  this  gross  asser- 
tion ?  "  One  of  its  avowed  principles,"  he  says,  "  is, 
that  it  does  not  try  slavery  by  the  Bible."  Out  of  his 
mouth  he  shall  be  condemned.  He  calls  Dr.  Wayland 
an  Abolitionist.  I  ask,  does  he  test  slavery  by  the  Bible  ? 
He  calls  Albert  Barnes  an  eminent  Abolitionist :  does  he 
test  it  by  scriptural  principles?  But,  forsooth,  these 
men  assert  that  the  matter  of  the  Scripture  is  to  be 
taken  into  account  in  arguing  the  question  of  inspira- 
tion, and  therefore  are  infidels.  Such  an  impure  sys- 
tem as  slavery  or  polygamy,  they  declare,  would  be  an 
argument  against  the  Bible  as  from  God,  if  it  was  found 
to  sanction  such  crimes.  This  Mr.  Van  Dyke  pro- 
nounces infidelity.  Into  the  question  which  this  decla- 
ration involves,  I  have  no  time  to  enter.  Mr.  Van 
Dyke,  however,  is  sworn  to  the  confession  of  faith,  lie 
will  find  the  following  language  in  the  Larger  Catechism, 
question  fourth  :  "  The  Scriptures  manifest  themselves  to 
be  the  word  of  God,  by  their  majesty  and  purity,  by  the 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  215 

consent  of  all  the  parts  and  the  scope  of  the  whole, 
which  is  to  give  all  glory  to  God,"  etc.  His  knowledge 
of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  of  classical  liter- 
ature, and  of  his  own  church  standards,  appears  to  be 
equally  extensive  and  profound. 

Was  Judge  Jay  an  Abolitionist  ?  Has  Mr.  Van  Dyke 
ever  heard  of  his  work  on  Hebrew  servitude  \  Some 
go  so  far  as  to  call  Dr.  Cheever  an  Abolitionist :  has 
Mr.  Van  Dyke  ever  seen  his  book,  "  God  against  Slave- 
ry "  ?  Has  the  name  of  Rev.  William  Goodell  come  to 
his  ears  in  the  history  of  this  controversy  \  Do  Reformed 
Presbyterians,  United  Presbyterians,  Free  Presbyterians, 
etc.,  test  slavery  by  the  Scriptures'?  A  more  reckless 
assertion,  based  upon  a  more  contemptible  quibble,  was 
never  made  :  the  plea  of  ignorance  can  alone  save  him 
from  the  charge  of  dishonesty. 

Again :  he  declares  that,  where  abolitionism  prevails, 
infidelity  is  most  rampant.  Where  abolitionism  pre- 
vails, the  people  are  also  most  intelligent,  —  in  Xew 
England,  to  take  his  own  example.  Suppose  his  charge 
true,  which  it  is  not,  let  him  show  the  connection.  I 
advise  Mr.  Van  Dyke  to  benefit  his  soul  by  attending  the 
"  Boston  Anniversaries  "  next  May  ;  I  mean,  of  course, 
the  religious  anniversaries,  such  as  he  would  approve ; 
not,  of  course,  that  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society, 
not  of  the  Church  Anti-Slavery  Society.  Let  him  look 
upon  the  multitudes  of  earnest,  intelligent,  and  consci- 
entious Christians,  who  throng  these  assemblies  from  all 
parts  of  Xew  England  ;  let  him  hear  the  enthusiastic 
addresses  from  the  representative  men  of  her  three 
thousand  ministers  ;  then  let  him  visit  Xew  England, 
where  every  village  has  its  neat  white  church  well  kept 


216  SERMON". 

and  well  attended.  Taking  up  his  pilgrim  staff,  let  liim 
then  traverse  certain  sections  of  Virginia,  Maryland, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  etc.,  visit  the  old  waste 
places  of  his  own  church  and  of  other  churches,  and 
then  come  home  and  preach  upon  New-England  infidel- 
ity. He  knows,  however,  —  or,  if  he  does  not,  I  do,  for  I 
was  born  upon  the  New-England  hills,  —  that  infidelity, 
so  far  as  it  has  prevailed,  has  been  the  child  of  Unitarian- 
ism  and  Universalism,  and  has  not  in  any  sense  origi- 
nated in  the  anti-slavery  enterprise.  Theodore  Parker 
was  a  Parkerite  before  he  was  an  Abolitionist :  his  theo- 
logical opinions  were  in  no  sense  the  result  of  his  views 
upon  this  question,  and  the  very  same  may  be  said  of 
others. 

But  to  see  the  absurdity  of  this  third  statement,  com- 
pare Massachusetts  with  South  Carolina.  I  beg  pardon 
of  Massachusetts.  Compare,  then,  if  you  choose,  a 
congregation  of  those  whom  Mr.  Van  Dyke  calls  infi- 
dels, listening  to  Dr.  Channing  or  Theodore  Parker, 
developing  their  system  of  natural  religion,  with  an 
audience  in  Columbia  or  Charleston,  hanging  with  de- 
light upon  the  lips  of  Rev.  Mr.  Prentiss,  expatiating 
upon  the  glories  of  that  benevolent  and  divine  institu- 
tion, "  The  Foreign  Slave-Trade."  I  beg  a  thousand 
pardons  of  the  infidels.  The  infidelity  of  New  England 
is  infidelity  in  advance  of  South-Carolina  orthodoxy. 
The  Southern  States  of  this  Union  are  the  great  strong- 
holds of  Satan's  kingdom.  The  scats  of  irrcligion,  im- 
piety, and  all  wickedness,  have  breathed  the  pestilential 
taint  of  that  moral  impurity  all  over  the  land,  and  have 
done,  and  are  doing,  a  thousand-fold  more  against  the 
cause  of  Christ  than  all  the  infidels  that  New  England 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  217 

has  ever  produced.  Hear  the  French  Protestants  once 
more  upon  this  point.  "  Are  you  aware  of  the  lan- 
guage which  is  addressed  to  us  from  all  sides  \  This  is  it : 
'  Protestantism  accommodates  itself  willingly  to  slavery. 
In  the  United  States,  this  odious  institution  reckons 
numerous  defenders  among  the  Christian  bodies.  It 
is  preached  for,  it  is  prayed  for,  and  for  it  every  effort 
is  made  to  conquer  new  territories.  And  this  slavery 
for  which  so  much  is  done,  is  the  sale  of  families  in 
detail ;  is  the  rupture  of  the  marriage-tie ;  is  the  an- 
nual prostitution  of  men,  women,  and  children,  selected 
for  this  odious  purpose  from  the  man-farms  of  Virginia 
and  Kentucky ;  is,  in  a  word,  a  monstrous  fact,  which  is 
not  only  revolting  to  religious  minds,  but  which  out- 
rages the  first  principles  of  humanity.  And  American 
Protestantism  accepts  this  fact.  They  find  it  to  agree 
with  the  gospel;  and,  doubtless, the  Protestants  of  Europe 
think  as  they  do  ;  otherwise,  they  had  long  ago  uttered 
a  loud  cry  of  grief  and  reprobation."  Did  not  intelli- 
gent Protestants  in  Syria  declare,  last  winter,  that  the 
news  which  came  from  the  United  States  of  the  banish- 
ment of  the  free  colored  people  from  their  homes,  of 
Mr.  Fee,  and  others,  from  Kentucky,  and  of  Northern 
men  of  all  classes  who  were  peacefully  pursuing  their 
avocations,  had  done  more  to  injure  Protestantism  in 
Syria  than  all  the  Jesuits  ever  sent  out  by  the  Propa- 
ganda of  Home  \  Missionaries  in  all  parts  of  the  world 
declare  that  they  are  constantly  met  with  a  reference  to 
slavery  in  the  churches  of  the  United  States,  as  an  argu- 
ment against  our  religion.  From  all  parts  of  the  Chris- 
tian world  comes  up  a  united  testimony  as  to  the  im- 
mense  evil  which  this  system  is  doing  to  the  cause  of 


218  SERMON. 

evangelical  religion,  —  a  testimony  which  is  met  by  the 
defenders  of  the  faith  in  Brooklyn,  declaring  all  who 
will  not  accept  it  as  divine,  and  who  are  laboring  for  its 
subversion,  to  be  infidels.  The  men  whom  Swedenborg 
says  he  saw  in  the  other  world,  who  were  dead,  and 
did  not  know  it,  were  wise  in  comparison  with  these 
defenders  of  this  atrocious  wickedness.  But  what  of 
those  men  who  have  engaged  in  this  enterprise,  and  come 
during  its  progress  to  deny  the  inspiration  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  those  doctrines  which  we  agree  in  esteeming 
fundamental  to  Christianity'?  There  are  a  few  such, 
though  I  believe  you  could  count  them  all  upon  your 
fingers.  I  ask,  however,  what  occurred  in  the  great 
Reformation  from  Popery?  Did  all  who  abandoned 
Rome,  all  who  did  good  service  in  the  cause,  become 
evangelical  Christians  ?  The  objection  is  stolen.  Rome 
has  urged  it  again  and  again.  It  is  her  standing  argu- 
ment against  the  Reformation.  What  is  the  reply? 
Not  the  Reformation,  but  the  corrupt  system  against 
which  the  Reformation  was  a  protest,  is  chargeable  with 
the  infidelity.  My  reply  is,  not  the  anti-slavery  move- 
ment, but  a  pro-slavery  religion,  against  which  it  was 
a  tremendous  re-action,  made  these  men  infidels.  From 
the  churches  came  the  strongest  opposition,  from  the 
pulpits  the  bitterest  denunciations  of  them  and  their 
sacred  cause.  This  course  of  treatment  produced  its 
natural  effect,  and  in  some  few  instances  led  to  the 
extremes  of  practice  and  of  language  against  all  religion, 
which  the  best  friends  of  the  cause  deplore,  and  do  not 
defend.  Romanism  produced  the  infidelity  of  France : 
German  Rationalism  is  the  unclean  spirit  from  the  stag- 
nant  marshes    of  a   corrupt  Protestantism.     The  pro- 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  219 

slavery  church  in  this  land  is  the  fruitful  mother  of 
unbelief.  As  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  of  Luther,  the 
worst  foes  of  Christianity  are  those  of  its  own  house. 
Once  more,  I  fear,  within  the  walls  of  Zion  will  the 
battle  of  Christianity  have  to  be  fought ;  but,  blessed  be 
God,  it  will  be  the  last  conflict.  The  morning  cometh. 
Messiah  is  on  the  march.  I  hear  the  thunders  of  his 
chariot-wheels  in  the  crash  of  falling  tyrannies  ;  the  wail 
of  despotisms,  as  they  sink,  like  the  cities  of  the  plain, 
never  to  arise.  American  slavery  is  doomed.  Its  foun- 
dations are  heaving :  its  pillars  tumble,  like  those  of 
Dagon's  temple,  "  with  horrible  convulsion  to  and  fro," 
destined  soon  to  fall,  and  bury  in  its  ruins  pro-slavery 
churches  and  pro-slavery  ministers  beneath  the  remem- 
brance, ay,  beneath  the  contempt,  of  men.  This  is  my 
answer  to  his  third  proposition. 

The  fourth  and  last  proposition  which  our  author  lays 
down  is  this :  "  Abolitionism "  (the  belief  that  slavery 
is  a  sin,  morally  wrong)  "  is  the  chief  cause  of  the 
strife  that  agitates,  ana  the  danger  that  threatens,  coun- 
try." This  statement  is  both  true  and  false, — true,  in 
a  sense  which  he  did  not  intend ;  false,  in  the  sense  in 
which  he  wishes  it  to  be  understood.  Christianity  is 
in  earnest,  in  deadly  conflict  with  all  forms  of  wicked- 
ness, with  every  manner  of  oppression,  —  a  conflict 
which  knows  neither  truce  nor  compromise  until  the 
battle  is  fought  out  and  the  victory  won,  until  the  ban- 
ner of  the  cross  floats  in  triumph  over  every  shore,  and 
"  voices  are  heard  in  heaven  proclaiming,  '  Now  is  come 
salvation,  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  have  become  the 
kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ.' "  The  lan- 
guage  of  Christianity  is,  "  I  will   overturn,  overturn, 


220  SERMON. 

overturn  it,    and  it  shall  be  no  more,  until  he  come 
whose  right  it  is,  and  I  "will  give  it  him." 

It  has  been  the  cause  of  much  disturbance  for  well- 
nigh  two  thousand  years  ;  it  has  "set  a  man  at  variance 
against  his  father,  and  the  daughter  against  her  mother, 
and  the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in-law ; " 
it  has  rent  families,  nations,  churches ;  produced  more 
bloodshed,  famines,  persecutions,  pestilences  ;  destroyed 
art,  trade,  commerce,  manufactures ;  overthrown  proud 
cities,  and  turned  fat  lands  into  barrenness.  "  Think 
not  that  I  came  to  send  peace  on  earth.  I  came  not  to 
send  peace,  but  a  sword."  Messiah  will  smite  the 
nations  with  the  rod  of  his  anger  until  they  submit,  and 
give  the  glory  to  his  name  which  is  due.  But  who  is 
to  blame?  God's  merciful  and  beneficent  scheme  for 
the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  society  and  the 
salvation  of  men  ?  Or  the  wickedness  and  deceivable- 
ness  of  unrighteousness  which  rejects  the  proposed 
mercy  ?  Had  men  not  persisted  in  embracing  and  be- 
lieving and  promulgating  the  truth,  we  would  never 
have  heard  of  the  persecutions  of  the  early  Christians. 
Had  the  "Waldenses  submitted  to  that  lawful  authority 
which  was  over  them,  there  would  have  been  no  bloody 
slaughter  amid  those  gloomy  Alpine  fastnesses.  We 
should  never  have  heard  that  noble  outburst  in  their 
behalf  of  the  great  soul  of  John  Milton,  — 

"  Avenge,  O  Lord  !  thy  slaughtered  saints,  whose  bones 
Lie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold. 


Slain  by  the  bloody  Piudmontcsc  that  rolled 
Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks." 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  221 

Had  there  been  no  Huguenots  in  France,  there  ■would 
have  been  no  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  The  world 
would  have  been  saved  the  appalling  tragedy.  Had  there 
been  no  Puritans  in  England,  tne  fires  of  Smithfield 
never  had  been  kindled.  Had  the  Covenanters  of  Scot- 
land been  a  little  more  yielding  and  inclined  to  compro- 
mise, twenty-eight  thousand  men,  women,  and  children 
would  not  have  died  for  the  word  of  God  and  the 
testimony  which  they  held :  there  would  have  been  no 
English  or  American  Revolution. 

Were  there  no  Abolitionists  in  this  country,  that  is, 
none  who  believe  slavery  a  moral  wrong,  and  who  are 
determined  to  act  upon  that  conviction,  we  would  have 
neither  strife  nor  agitation  at  the  present  time.  All 
this  is  fully  admitted  ;  but  what  then  ?  Why,  then  let 
us  adopt  the  advice  of  Messrs.  Van  Dyke  and  O'Conor, 
fold  our  arms,  shut  our  crazy  mouths,  or  open  them  only 
to  shout  hallelujahs  to  despotism,  and  vex  the  air  with 
our  huzzahs  for  the  great  Diana  of  American  slavery, 
and  accord  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  "  that  black  men 
have  no  rights  which  white  men  are  bound  to  respect." 
Let  us  invite  Senator  Toombs  to  Bunker  Hill,  and  wave 
our  hats  while  he  calls  the  roll  of  his  slaves  at  the  base 
of  the  monument  above  the  ashes  of  the  men  who  died 
with  the  declaration  of  the  great  Virginian  upon  their 
lips,  "  Give  me  liberty,  or  give  me  death."  Let  us,  in 
the  language  of  one  who  should  have  been  called  any 
thing  else  than  wise,  "  permit  slavery  to  pour  itself  out 
without  restraint,  and  find  no  limit  but  the  Western 
Ocean  ;  "  or  in  the  more  pious  but  less  expressive  phrase- 
ology of  the  saintly  Palmer,  the  man  to  whom  the  soul 
of  Mr.  Van  Dyke  is  knit  by  the  Spirit  aud  Word  of  God, 


222  SERMON. 

as  the  soul  of  Jonathan  to  David,  "  grant  it  the  right 
unchallenged  by  man  to  go  and  root  itself  wherever 
Providence  and  nature  may  carry  it."  Accepting  the 
advice  of  this  follower  of  one  who  came  to  proclaim  de- 
liverance to  the  captive,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison- 
doors  to  them  that  are  bound,  repeal  our  liberty-bills, 
until,  wherever  the  stars  and  stripes  are  seen  to  wave, 
there  shall  be  no  hiding-place  for  the  flying  fugitives. 
Put  into  our  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith,  as  the  first 
fundamental  principle  of  all  true  religion,  the  doctrine 
that  slavery  is  right,  and  denounce,  as  the  most  damna- 
ble of  all  damnable  heresies,  the  belief  that  it  is  sinful 
and  morally  wrong ;  lay  the  very  foundations  of  our 
churches  upon  the  crushed  and  bruised  body  of  the  slave, 
and  cement  them  with  his  blood  ;  declare  every  church 
not  founded  upon  this  rock,  and  not  adorned  with  a 
slaveholding  ministry  and  membership,  a  mere  conclave 
of  fanatics,  and  not  worth  a  farthing  candle.  Then  will 
the  souls  of  those  eminent  evangelists  of  slavery  and  dis- 
union, Drs.  Thornwell  and  Palmer,  be  made  to  sing  for 
joy,  and  the  hope  of  evangelizing  the  world  (the  North 
included)  once  more  dart  its  cheering  beams  into  the 
darkness  of  their  present  desponding  and  discouraged 
condition.  That  delectable  community  which  they  call 
South  Carolina  will  return  to  the  fold  from  which  she 
has  wandered,  bringing  those  evangelists  of  the  slave- 
trade,  Dr.  Mc Vicars  and  Rev.  Mr.  Prentiss,  with  her. 
Agitation  will  cease,  quiet  will  be  restored,  and  peace 
will  plant  her  olives  upon  the  hills.  King  Cotton  will 
ascend  the  throne  from  which  he  has  been  cast  down. 
Our  Northern  summers  will  he  made  bright  by  visits 
from  our  Southern  friends  and  their  bands  of  happy 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  223 

slaves ;  our  winters  less  cheerless  by  the  hope  of  their 
return.  Surely  we  arc  all  ready.  Who  could  refuse 
such  requests  from  pious  lips,  with  the  promise  of  such 
blessings  ? 

Slavery,  I  affirm,  is  the  cause  of  the  strife  that  agi- 
tates, and  the  danger  that  threatens,  our  country :  this 
every  wise  man  knows,  and  every  candid  man  confesses, 
to  be  true.  The  strife  will  cease,  the  danger  will  be 
averted,  when  the  last  fetter  has  fallen  from  the  last 
slave,  and  liberty  proclaimed  throughout  all  the  land  to 
all  the  inhabitants  thereof,  and  not  till  then.  Build 
your  house  upon  the  shifting  sand,  and  hope  that  when 
the  rain  descends,  and  the  storm  beats,  and  the  floods 
come,  it  will  not  fall.  Make  your  home  on  the  slopes 
of  Vesuvius,  and  expect  that  it  will  not  be  rocked  by 
the  earthquake,  or  swept  by  the  fiery  flood  when  it 
rolls  from  its  burning  crest,  but  do  not  expect  that  a 
nation  can  have  peace  which  enslaves  men ;  that  a  king- 
dom will  stand  which  violates  God's  law  ;  that  a  people 
can  prosper,  who  spoil  the  poor,  and  oppress  the  stran- 
ger ;  that  you  can  avert  the  wrath  of  Heaven  with  ser- 
mons against  abolitionism,  or  turn  back  the  arm  of  the 
Almighty  when  it  is  stretched  out,  with  prayers  in  which 
there  is  no  confession  of  guilt,  or  promise  of  repentance 
toward  God ;  or  that  your  compromises  and  exhortations 
to  peace  will  avail  when  Jehovah  rides  forth  upon  the 
whirlwind,  when  "  the  Lord  thunders  in  the  heavens,  and 
the  Highest  gives  his  voice,  hailstones  and  coals  of  fire." 

But  has  slavery  been  the  meek  and  quiet  lamb 
during  these  years  which  its  apologists  would  make  us 
believe  \  They  would  make  one  think  that  the  terrible 
lion  of  anti-slavery  had  stood  with  his  tremendous  paw 


224  *  SERMON. 

upon  its  neck,  with  open  jaws,  blood-red  tongue,  glaring 
eyes,  and  erect  mane,  ready  at  any  moment  to  slay  and 
devour,  while  the  meek  creature  did  nothing  but  bleat 
out  piteous  supplications  for  life.  I  affirm  that  slavery 
has  been  the  aggressive  power,  and  that  slaveholders 
have  accomplished,  by  their  own  madness,  what  Abo- 
litionists, without  their  assistance,  would  have  failed  to 
effect.  There  is  a  painful  misrepresentation  of  facts 
throughout  Mr.  Van  Dyke's  discourse,  which  we  must, 
in  kindness,  conclude  is  the  result  of  a  pitiable  ignorance 
of  the  history  of  events.  I  can  conceive  how  a  man, 
who  had  read  nothing  but  "  The  Herald"  or  "  The  Ob- 
server," or  some  of  their  echoes,  might  reach  such  con- 
clusions as  those  stated  under  this  fourth  head ;  but  I 
cannot  conceive  how  a  man  abreast  of  the  times,  or 
having  any  tolerable  acquaintance  with  the  history  of 
the  last  twenty  years,  could  make  such  statements.  I 
affirm  that  slavery  has  been  the  aggressor,  and  that  the 
victory  has  generally  been  upon  that  side.  In  proof  of 
this  I  appeal,  — 

To  the  speeches  of  all  the  leading  men  of  the  South, 
from  Calhoun  to  "Wigfall,  in  Congress  and  upon  the 
hustings,  to  the  tone  of  her  influential  press,  with 
which,  thanks  to  the  honesty  and  candor  of  "  The  Anti- 
Slavery  Standard,"  we  are  pretty  familiar. 

To  the  imprisonment  by  South  Carolina  of  free  citi- 
zens of  Massachusetts,  guilty  of  no  crime  but  a  colored 
skin,  their  selling  into  slavery  to  pay  their  jail-fees,  and 
banishment  from  the  State  of  the  legal  gentleman,  Mr. 
Hoar,  who  had  proceeded  thither  for  the  purpose  of 
endeavoring  to  obtain  justice  for  them  by  an  appeal  to 
the  courts. 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  225 

To  the  admission  of  Texas  into  the  Union,  and  the 
consequent  war  with  Mexico,  in  which  life  and  treasure 
were  lavishly  expended  in  order  to  add  additional  slave- 
territory  to  our  already  too  much  extended  domain. 

To  the  enactment  of  the  Fugitive-slave  Law,  which 
affixes  the  severest  penalties  to  obedience  to  God's  law 
and  the  plainest  dictates  of  humanity,  and  visits  with 
heavy  punishments  the  performance  of  a  duty  which 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  will  discharge,  the 
law  of  the  country  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

To  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  a  meas- 
ure proposed  by  Douglas,  then  a  pliant,  now  a  cast-off, 
tool  of  the  Slave  Oligarchy,  and  carried  by  Southern 
votes, — votes  of  the  very  men  now  talking  about 
sacred  compacts,  and  that,  too,  when  not  a  single  com- 
pact which  the  North  has  ever  made,  has  been,  or  is 
proposed  to  be,  violated. 

To  the  attempted  assassination  of  Charles  Sumner, 
"  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all,"  upon  the  floor  of  the 
Senate  Chamber  by  Southern  bullies. 

To  the  atrocious  Dred  Scott  decision,  making  slavery 
national,  and  freedom  local,  capping  the  climax  of  all 
judicial  iniquity  by  the  declaration  that  black  men 
never  were,  are  not,  and  cannot  be,  citizens,  and  have 
no  rights  which  white  men  are  bound  to  respect. 

To  the  terrible  scenes  enacted  upon  the  plains  of 
Kansas,  until  it  was  as  though  the  seven  plagues  of 
Egypt  had  been  mingled  with  the  seven  vials  of  Apoca- 
lyptic wrath,  and  poured  out  upon  the  unhappy  terri- 
tory. 

To  the  banishment  of  free  people,  white  and  colored, 
from   Southern    States,   together  with    the    whippings, 


226  SERMON. 

hangings,    and   burnings  which   have   so    aroused   the 
Northern  mind  during  the  past  year. 

In  fine,  to  the  whole  history  of  the  conflict  in  which 
this  despotic  power  has  been  attempting  to  seize  the 
Government  and  control  it  for  the  accomplishment  of 
its  own  infernal  designs. 

This  is  my  answer  to  the  charges,  arguments,  state- 
ments, and  perversions  of  this  remarkable  discourse,  —  a 
discourse  which  marks  the  lowest  point  that  the  Northern 
pulpit  has  ever  reached.  Yet  I  rejoice  that  it  has  been 
preached.  It  will  open  blind  eyes,  and  carry  its  own 
refutation  where  my  words  can  never  reach.  Moreover, 
I  am  relieved  at  the  thought  that  we  have  touched 
bottom :  there  is  surely  no  lower  deep.  I  do  not 
expect  to  hear  the  slave-trade  advocated,  even  by  Mr. 
Van  Dyke,  —  at  any  rate,  not  in  Brooklyn  :  as  to  what 
he  would  do  in  Charleston,  I  am  not  so  positive.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  from  this  point  we  must  certainly 
ascend,  —  remain  stationary  we  cannot. 

But  I  am  asked,  what  is  my  remedy  for  present  evils  ? 
When  a  man  who  has  maimed  himself  in  an  attempt  to 
take  his  own  life  asks  me  what  I  am  going  to  do  about 
it,  my  reply  will  be,  I  exceedingly  regret  your  folly  and 
wickedness,  but  must  decline  assuming  any  responsibil- 
ity for  the  act,  while  declaring  my  readiness  to  do  all  in 
my  power  to  benefit  or  relieve  him. 

My  remedy  is  to  stand  firm ;  refuse  all  compromise ; 
do  our  whole  duty ;  think,  speak,  act,  just  as  at  other 
times,  and  leave  the  men  who  take  the  trouble  to  fur- 
nish the  remedy  :  timidity,  not  firmness,  has  been  the 
curse  of  every  great  and  good  cause  in  which  it  has 
been  permitted  to  enter. 


CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM.  227 

Be  patient,  forbearing,  forgiving,  kind :  this  is  Christ- 
like, is  divine.  Seek  the  best  interests,  the  highest  good, 
of  all ;  but  do  not  swerve  a  hair's-breadth  from  the  path 
of  duty  for  the  sake  of  averting  evils,  which,  like  the 
stone  of  Sisyphus,  must  evermore  return  to  plague  and 
molest  us. 

As  Nelson  said  at  Trafalgar,  "  England  expects  every 
man  to  do  his  duty."  This  is  the  hour  in  which  God 
and  liberty  expect  every  man  to  do  his  duty,  assured 
that,  as  always  under  the  divine  guidance  and  protection, 
the  path  of  duty  will  be  found  to  be  the  path  of  safety. 
Amen. 


THE  THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.1 


Fellow-Students      of      the     Philo      and      Franklin 
Literary  Societies  : 

My  presence  before  you  this  evening  will  sufficiently 
express  the  gratification  which  your  united  invitation 
has  afforded,  my  deep  sense  of  the  honor  which  your 
partiality  has  thus  conferred  upon  me. 

The  occasion  which  has  called  us  together  is  festive. 
I  am  aware  that  this  hour  is  esteemed  sacred  to  the 
Muses,  and  ordinarily  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  some 
theme  related  to  those  lofty  pursuits  in  which  you  are 
here  engaged,  and  which  tranquillize  the  feelings  while 
they  expand  the  intellect,  and  ennoble  the  soul. 

I  am  compelled,  however,  to-night,  by  an  imperative 
sense  of  duty,  to  turn  aside  from  these  inviting  themes, 
and  to  speak  upon  subjects  which  possess,  from  the 
circumstances  of  the  times,  a  deeper  interest,  and  more 
vitally  affect  our  welfare. 

The  aspect  of  affairs  in  our  beloved  country  is  that 
of  a  cloud  rent  and  torn  by  conflicting  storms,  or  of  a 
ship  driven  of  the  wind  and  tossed  ;  it  is  the  crisis  of 
a  nation's  fate  ;  every  moment  is  fraught  with  destiny : 
we  mingle  trembling  with  our  mirth.  Rebellion,  wide- 
spread, atrocious,  and  sanguinary,  rocks  our  Government 

1  Jefferson  College,  Aug.  G,  1SU2. 
228 


THE   THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  229 

from,  foundation  to  pinnacle,  and  with  desperate  frenzy 
aims  at  the  nation's  life.  The  skies  above  are  lurid  with 
the  fires  of  war ;  the  air  is  filled  with  the  hurtling  hail 
of  battle  ;  the  earth  trembles  beneath  the  tread  of  armed 
hosts  as  they  rush  with  impetuous  speed  to  the  scene  of 
conflict,  or  mingle  with  fierce  and  fiery  courage  in  the 
gory  and  tumultuous  agony  of  the  deadly  struggle. 

"  The  midnight  brings  the  signal  sound  of  strife  ; 
The  morn,  the  marshalling  in  arms  ; 
The  day,  battle's  magnificently  stern  array." 

There  is  a  skeleton  with  us  at  this  banquet :  a  bloody 
hand  dips  with  us  in  this  dish.  Even  now  while  we 
speak,  there  goes  up  to  heaven  a  wail  like  that  which 
arose  from  the  land  of  Egypt  in  that  dreadful  night  in 
which  "  the  Lord  smote  all  the  first-born,  from  the  first- 
born of  Pharaoh  that  sat  on  his  throne  to  the  first-born 
of  the  captive  in  the  dungeon,"  —  a  very  great  mourning, 
like  "  the  mourning  of  Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of 
Megiddon  ;  "  Rachel  weeping  for  one  hundred  thousand 
of  her  children  sacrificed  to  the  bloody  Moloch  of  war, 
and  refusing  to  be  comforted  because  they  are  not. 
Memory,  stimulated  and  assisted  by  the  hallowed  asso- 
ciations of  this  time  and  place,  evokes  from  the  mists  of 
the  vanished  years  the  familiar  forms  of  beloved  asso- 
ciates and  instructors,  some  of  whom  remain  until  this 
present,  but  some  have  fallen  asleep.  From  these,  too, 
I  must  reluctantly  turn  aside  to  speak  upon  themes 
which,  in  this  momentous  epoch,  press  with  peculiar 
urgency  upon  the  attention  of  all  thoughtful  and  earnest 
minds.  I  cannot,  however,  pass  in  silence  the  name  of 
that   illustrious    man   who   presided  with   such    distin- 


230  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

guisbed  ability  over  this  institution  while  it  was  my 
privilege  to  be  a  student  within  its  walls,  and  who, 
occupying  a  conspicuous  place  of  influence,  has  faith- 
fully, heroically,  and  successfully  withstood,  in  family, 
in  church,  and  in  state,  the  tide  of  treason  that  for  so 
many  months  surged  and  swelled  and  roared  like  an 
angry  sea  around  him.  I  refer,  of  course,  to  Rev.  R.  J. 
Breckinridge,  D.D.  LL.D. 

"As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  form, 
Swells  from  the  vale  and  midway  leaves  the  storm, 
Though  round  its  base  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head." 

The  thoughts  which  I  design  to  present,  I  shall  arrange 
after  the  manner  of  my  profession,  under  three  distinct 
heads,  which  I  designate  The  Three  Pillars  of  a 
Republic;  viz.,  Religion,  Law,  and  Liberty.  I  do  not 
propose  to  discuss  these  topics  in  the  abstract,  nor  with 
any  pretensions  to  an  exhaustive  treatment,  but  with 
special  reference  to  the  condition  of  affairs  in  our  coun- 
try, and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  I  address  ingenuous  and 
ambitious  young  men  who  must  exert  a  powerful,  per- 
haps a  controlling,  influence  upon  her  future  destiny. 
These,  young  friends,  are  indeed  eventful  times.  This 
is  a  great  transition  period  —  a  grand  historic  epoch, 
like  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  the  English,  French, 
or  American  Revolutions.  It  depends  upon  the  manner 
in  which  we  conduct  ourselves  whether  the  sun  of  our 
country's  glory  shall  burst  through  these  clouds  of  war, 
ascend  to  its  meridian  splendor  to  shed  beneficent  light 
upon  ages  and  generations  to  come,  or  sink,  never  to 
rise,  amid  storms  of  revolution  into  a  raylcss  night  of 


THE  THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  231 

anarchy  and  blood.  If  God  in  his  mercy  will  vouchsafe 
to  us  the  wisdom  to  know  the  grand  opportunity  which 
he  has  now  put  in  our  power,  this  period  will  be  the 
dawn  of  a  brighter  day  of  peace,  prosperity,  and  happi- 
ness than  has  yet  shed  its  holy  light  upon  this  or  any 
other  land,  —  a  period  to  which  we  may  apply  the 
words  of  the  immortal  lloman  poet, — 

"  Magnus  ab  integro  sseclorum  nascitur  orrto." 

"We  cannot  come  out  of  this  war  at  the  door  at  which 
we  went  in.  Revolutions  never  go  back.  As  well  sup- 
pose that  you  can  cause  the  stars  to  return  upon  their 
courses,  as  to  suppose  that  you  can  now  restore  the 
former  condition  of  affairs,  —  the  "status  ante  helium.'''' 
We  are  fighting  to  put  down  rebellion,  but  not,  unless 
God  has  deprived  us  of  reason,  —  on  the  well-known 
principle  of  the  heathen  maxim,  that  the  gods  first 
madden  whom  they  design  to  destroy,  —  to  bind  our- 
selves anew  to  that  body  of  death  from  which  we  now 
begin  to  be  delivered.  We  shall  have  at  the  close  of 
this  struggle,  if  we  conduct  it  aright,  not  "  The  Consti- 
tution as  it  Is,  the  Union  as  it  Was,"  but  all  of  the 
Constitution  that  is  valuable  and  that  guarantees  liberty; 
Union  in  a  much  higher  and  nobler  sense  than  that 
word  has  ever  borne  ;  the  union,  not  of  light  with  dark- 
ness, not  of  Christ  with  Belial,  not  of  Liberty  with 
Slavery,  but  of  Free  States  in  one  grand  Empire,  ex- 
tending from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  the  great 
Lakes  to  the  Gulf:  a  country  of  which  the  patriot  may 
be  proud ;  one  that  he  may  love ;  one  for  which,  if 
need  be,  he  may  lay  down  his  life ;  one  in  which  all 
men  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 


232  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

suit  of  happiness  without  distinction  of  name,  race,  or 
color.  The  miserable  men  who  unsuccessfully  attempt 
to  disguise  their  Secession  sympathies  with  the  cry, 
"  The  Constitution  as  it  Is,  the  Union  as  it  Was,"  only 
demonstrate  how  deeply  they  are  sunk  in  the  abyss  of 
political  corruption,  how  malignant  and  fierce  is  their 
hatred  of  liberty,  how  abject  their  love  of  oppression, 
and  how  little  they  know  of  that  God  who  rules  not 
alone  in  the  army  of  heaven,  but  among  the  inhabitants 
of  earth.  The  old  geological  strata,  rent  and  torn  by 
the  earthquake,  melted  by  volcanic  fires,  and  abraded 
by  the  floods,  were  reconstructed,  without  the  loss  of 
a  single  particle,  by  the  Great  Architect  into  different 
forms,  more  useful  and  more  beautiful,  but  never  re- 
stored to  their  original  condition.  So  the  Divine  Archi- 
tect and  Ruler  of  Nations  takes  care  in  these  political 
revolutions  that  nothing  valuable  be  lost,  although  he 
never  restores  communities  thus  convulsed  to  their  ori- 
ginal state.  Of  all  calamities  which  could  result  from 
this  infamous  rebellion,  restoration  to  the  former  condi- 
tion of  subserviency  to  the  slave-power  is  most  to  be 

deprecated. 

"  Take  any  shape  but  that, 
And  nw  firm  nerves  shall  never  tremble." 

But  let  us  be  hopeful.  Mythology  relates  that  Venus 
was  born  of  the  foam  of  the  sea,  and  that,  having  been 
wafted  by  the  west  winds  to  the  Isle  of  Cyprus,  where 
grass  and  flowers  sprang  up  in  profusion  beneath  her 
feet,  she  was  conducted  to  the  assembly,  and  received 
into  the  number  of  the  immortals.  Thus  may  our 
country  emerge  from  these  troubled  billows  of  war,  to 
be   crowned  with   a   more  radiant  beauty,  to  dispense 


THE   THREE  PILLARS  OF  A   REPUBLIC.  233 

more  abundant  blessings,  and  to  enter  upon  the  path  of 
enduring  prosperity  and  power.  War  is  God's  hus- 
bandry for  making  nations  more  fruitful.  After  the 
winter  come  the  spring  and  summer ;  after  the  storm, 
the  bow  and  the  sunshine.  I  am  aware  that  in  discuss- 
ing the  theme  which  I  have  selected,  I  am  liable  to 
come  in  conflict  with  certain  political  and  ecclesiastical 
parties,  consequently  with  the  prejudices  —  perhaps  with 
the  honest  convictions  —  of  those  who  are  connected 
with  them.  As  to  this,  I  have  only  to  say  that  I  shall 
endeavor  to  speak  as  a  Christian  and  a  patriot,  and  that, 
while  it  is  my  sole  object  to  present  the  truth  according 
to  my  own  conceptions  of  it,  I  shall,  as  always,  endeavor 
to  be  true  to  my  own  convictions,  and  neither  disguise 
my  sentiments  nor  turn  aside  from  the  direct  path  for 
fear  of  offending  any. 

Has  the  time  not  come  for  bold  and  fearless  speech  \ 
Have  we  not  had  enough,  and  more  than  enough,  of  that 
treason  to  God  and  to  truth  which  sought  to  mask  itself 
under  the  specious  name  of  Conservatism,  —  I  hate  the 
word,  and  especially  in  the  mouth  of  young  men ;  for,  as 
Beecher  says,  "  God  help  the  nation  whose  young  men 
are  conservative,"  —  and  to  overwhelm  all  who  should 
attempt  to  expose  its  hypocrisy  by  the  use  of  those 
opprobrious  epithets  in  which  its  infernal  vocabulary 
abounds  ?  The  reign  of  terror  is,  however,  fortunately 
passing  away.  He  must  be  a  weakling  indeed  who  can 
now  be  frightened  by  the  epithets,  fanatic,  fool,  madman, 
etc.,  which  have  been  so  freely  used  in  these  past  years, 
or  be  awed  into  silence  by  that  word  which  seems  to 
combine  within  itself  the  seven-fold  terror  of  all  the 
others,  —  Abolitionist. 


234  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

The  American  engineer  who  was  employed  to  con- 
struct the  great  railway  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow, 
was  directed  to  make  out  a  diagram  of  the  road,  and 
lay  it  before  the  Emperor.  In  due  time  it  was  com- 
pleted, and  presented  to  his  Majesty  for  inspection. 
"  "What  is  that?  "  said  the  haughty  autocrat,  after  look- 
ing at  it  curiously  for  some  moments.  "  Please,  your 
Majesty,"  said  the  confounded  engineer,  "  that  is  the 
road."  —  "  Road !  "  exclaimed  Nicholas,  "  it  looks  more 
like  a  snake.  "What  are  all  those  curves  for  \  "  —  "  Sire," 
replied  the  engineer,  "  those  curves  are  to  save  the  cities 
contiguous  to  the  route."  The  Emperor,  taking  a  pencil 
and  placing  it  firmly  at  a  point  on  the  paper,  says,  "  That, 
sir,  is  St.  Petersburg ;  "  then,  drawing  a  straight  line  en- 
ergetically to  another  point,  "  and  that  is  Moscow ;  make 
me  that  road."  —  "  But  what,"  interposed  the  engineer, 
"  will  become  of  the  cities  %  "  —  "  Do  not  know,  sir ;  let 
the  cities  take  care  of  themselves."  It  is  time  to  inau- 
gurate an  era  of  free  speech,  and  cease  to  pursue  the  old 
tortuous  path  for  fear  of  affecting  the  interests  of  some 
church,  society,  or  party  which  never  had  any  right  to 
exist,  —  which  is  even  now  nigh  unto  cursing,  and  fit 
for  nothing  but  to  be  consumed  by  God's  judgments. 
Let  them  take  care  of  themselves.  But  let  us  see  to  it 
that  we  are  faithful  to  truth,  and  true  to  our  own  con- 
victions of  justice  and  righteousness.  "  The  great  dome 
of  our  Federal  Capitol  rests  upon  a  circle  of  pillars.  It 
is  a  beautiful  symbol  of  our  moral  and  material  great- 
ness, which  must  ever  rest  upon  a  circle  of  free  institu- 
tions, each  subsisting  for  some  beneficent  purpose,  by  its 
own  inherent  laws  in  entire  harmony  with,  and  lending 
additional  strength  to,  its  neighbors." 


THE   THREE   PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  235 

The  first  which  I  name,  Religion,  is  first  also  in  point 
of  importance  and  necessity.  This  is  a  prime  support 
of  national  greatness  and  perpetuity.  No  government, 
much  less  one  that  is  wholly  dependent  upon  the  morals 
of  the  citizens,  will  long  exist  without  it.  By  religion 
in  this  connection,  I  do  not  mean  merely  the  religion  of 
the  individuals  composing  the  State,  but  national  reli- 
gion acknowledged  in  the  Constitution,  embodied  in  the 
laws,  and  entering  as  an  element  into  all  those  institu- 
tions which  are  the  outgrowth  and  the  exponents  of  the 
national  life.  Nor  do  I  design  to  employ  the  term  in 
its  widest  sense,  its  most  general  signification.  I  do 
not  mean  by  it  the  polytheism  of  ancient  Greece  and 
Rome,  the  worship  of  Boodh  or  Allah :  I  do  not  under- 
stand by  religion  the  Mariolatry  of  Popery,  the  material- 
istic pantheism  of  ancient  India  and  of  modern  Germany, 
the  sentimental  idealism  of  English  essayists  and  review- 
ers, nor  yet  that  specious  and  pretentious  thing  in  our 
own  country  recently  described  as  a  (1  fantastical  pagan- 
ism," arrogating  to  itself  the  name  of  religion,  of  which 
slavery  is  the  enthroned  idol,  which  is  known  in  the 
South  by  the  intensity  of  its  zeal  in  the  cause  of  treason, 
in  the  North  by  a  contemptible  silence,  a  detestable 
neutrality,  what  John  C.  Calhoun  would  call  a  masterly 
inactivity.  As  the  ancient  Jew  prayed  toward  Jerusa- 
lem, and  as  the  modern  Frenchman  is  said  to  pray 
toward  Paris,  so  the  priests  of  this  pro-slavery  idolatry 
pray  with  their  faces  turned  toward  South  Carolina, 
prove  slavery  to  be  a  divine  institution  from  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  never  allude  to  the  present  conflict  for  fear 
of  sullying  the  purity  of  their  robes  with  the  mire  of 
politics.     Whenever  you  find  a  Northern  minister  who 


236  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

is  silent  in  these  times  of  national  calamity,  and  who 
prays  ambiguously,  so  that  no  mortal  can  tell  whether 
his  sympathies  are  with  the  North  or  with  the  South, 
you  may  be  sure  you  have  happened  upon  a  rank  Seces- 
sionist, and  one  as  richly  deserving  the  halter  as  the 
veriest  traitor  of  the  Confederacy. 

This  spurious  religion  has  done  more  than  all  other 
causes  combined,  to  debauch  the  public  sentiment  of  the 
country  on  the  great  question  which  lies  at  the  root  of 
our  present  troubles.  I  fearlessly  charge  upon  it  the 
guilt  of  that  blood  which  is  pouring  out  like  water,  and 
hold  it  responsible  for  the  suffering  and  anguish  with 
which  our  distracted  land  is  afflicted.  By  religion  I 
mean  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  —  that  religion  of  doc- 
trine, of  fact,  and  of  worship,  revealed  to  us  in  the 
Scriptures,  proclaimed  to  us  by  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
and  by  all  the  holy  prophets  since  the  world  began, 
which  is  alone  able  to  make  individual  man  wise  unto 
salvation,  and  to  preserve  society  from  corruption  and 
decay,  —  a  religion  comprised  in  these  two  great  com- 
mandments, "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind ; "  and  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  "  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  nriqhbor  as  thyself"  This  is  that  religion  which,  in 
opposition  to  all  sceptical  systems  from  Celsus  and  Por- 
phyry to  Buckle  and  "The  Westminster  lleview,"  we 
affirm  to  be  essential  to  the  existence  of  society,  and  the 
main  pillar  of  all  permanent  government.  This  doc- 
trine, I  am  aware,  —  although  I  confess  the  consciousness 
of  the  fact  does  not  give  me  great  uneasiness,  —  will  not 
be  accepted  by  godless  politicians  and  time-serving 
ecclesiastics  who  take  for  their  motto  —  the  one  as  a 


THE  THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  237 

shield  for  their  shameless  corruption,  the  other  as  an 
apology  for  their  cowardly  silence  —  that  false  maxim 
so  trite  in  this  country,  "Religion  has  nothing  to  do 
with  politics."  This  phrase  issuing  like  an  unclean 
spirit  from  the  mouth  of  French  infidelity  at  the  time 
of  our  national  organization,  although  as  great  a  false- 
hood as  was  ever  uttered  by  the  Father  of  Lies,  has 
been  accepted  by  us  as  the  bright  consummate  flower  of 
all  political  and  religious  philosophy,  and  has  exerted  an 
immense  influence  in  the  work  of  demoralization  which 
has  just  culminated  in  this  atrocious  rebellion.  Religion 
has  every  thing  to  do  with  politics.  Man  can  never 
break  those  cords  which  bind  him,  in  all  relations  of  life 
and  under  all  circumstances,  to  the  throne  of  God ;  nor 
find  any  sphere  of  action  exempt  from  that  dread  review 
to  which  all  men  and  all  their  actions  will  be  subjected 
at  the  judgment  of  the  great  day. 

A  nation  is  a  moral  person ;  has,  or  ought  to  have, 
a  conscience  ;  sustains  relations  to  the  immutable  and 
eternal ;  is  a  plan  of  the  divine  mind ;  lies  directly 
under  the  eye  of  God,  and  is  accountable  to  him. 
There  is  for  nations,  as  for  individuals,  an  immutable 
morality.  Any  departure  from  this  standard  is  as  sure 
in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other  to  incur  the  penalty  of 
the  divine  judgments.  This  follows  necessarily  from 
the  position  which  the  State  occupies,  and  the  duties 
which  it  discharges.  ';  Diis  immortalibus  proafimi  sunt 
magistratus"  —  it  is  supreme  next  to  God,  holds  in  its 
hand  the  power  of  life  and  death,  transacts  for  man  in 
many  of  his  highest  and  most  important  interests.  How 
absolutely  insane,  then,  is  that  heresy  which  would  seek 
the  perpetuity  of  the  State  in  the  absence  of  all  reli- 


238  ADDRESSES  ON"  SLAVERY. 

gion,  —  "  the  living  among  the  dead."  The  existence 
of  a  nation  depends,  as  all  admit,  upon  its  virtue,  —  the 
prevalent  state  of  morals ;  but  there  is  neither  virtue 
nor  morals  without  religion.  As  well  expect  a  soul 
without  a  body,  a  shadow  without  a  substance.  But 
give  to  a  nation  an  imperishable  faith,  and  you  render 
it  immortal.  The  patriot's  prayer  for  his  country,  "  Esto 
jierpetua"  is  answered,  and  proof  against  all  the  ravages 
of  decay :  she  must  stand  as  long  as  time  shall  endure. 
Society  is  not  a  monster,  ever  producing  and  ever  again 
devouring ;  not  a  whirlpool,  ever  throwing  up  nation- 
alities from  its  dark  abyss,  merely  to  be  again  ingulfed 
and  destroyed.  That  theory  which  conceived  some  irre- 
sistible cycle  in  human  affairs,  compelling  the  rise  and 
fall  of  empires  as  in  the  ancient  world,  is  exploded  and 
rejected  by  all  devout  and  philosophical  minds.  Ancient 
and  modern  kingdoms  have  fallen,  not  because  of  any 
dark  or  fatal  necessity  compelling  their  destruction,  but 
because  they  were  built  of  wood,  hay,  and  stubble,  upon 
the  shifting  sands  of  expediency,  and  not  upon  the  im- 
mutable rock  of  justice.  They  perished,  not  on  account 
of  religion,  but  for  the  want  of  it ;  the  lack  of  a  pure 
faith,  which  might  have  prevented  decay,  or  arrested 
it  when  once  begun.  We  refuse,  then,  the  profane 
maxims  current  in  the  mouths  of  political  speculatists : 
"Religion  has  nothing  to  do  with  politics,"  "The  State 
has  no  God,"  "  Law  knows  no  Bible."  Lamentably 
true,  we  admit,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  but  false  as  the 
Koran  as  a  declaration  of  principles.  We  prefer  to  say 
with  Plutarch,  "  Religion  is  the  bond  of  all  society,  and 
the  pillar  of  all  legislation;"  with  Montesquieu,  "Reli- 
gion is  the  support  of  society  ;  "  with  Washington,  "Of 


THE  THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  239 

all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political 
prosperity,  religion  and  morality  are  indispensable  sup- 
ports ; "  with  the  immortal  Burke,  "  We  know,  and, 
what  is  better,  we  feel  inwardly,  that  religion  is  the 
basis  of  civil  society,  and  the  source  of  all  good  and 
comfort ; "  with  the  scholarly  Huntington,  "  Society  is 
the  sphere  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth." 

I  am  presenting  no  impracticable  or  imaginary  theory. 
I  am  supported  by  an  array  of  the  greatest  names  —  of 
orators,  statesmen,  jurists,  theologians,  and  philosophers 
—  from  the  times  of  Cicero  until  the  present.  But  what 
reference  has  all  this  to  the  present  crisis  ?  Are  we  not 
a  Christian  nation  1  and  are  we  not  nevertheless  in  the 
furnace  of  war,  heated  in  God's  wrath  seven  times  hotter 
than  is  wont  ?  I  answer,  in  sorrow,  No.  We  are  not  in 
any  true  sense  of  that  term  a  Christian  nation.  Be  as- 
sured, friends,  the  curse  does  not  come  causeless.  "  Shall 
there  be  evil  in  a  city,  and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  it  \ " 
These  thunders  of  war  are  the  voice  of  him  at  whose 
awful  rebuke  the  pillars  of  heaven  tremble ;  reproving, 
from  the  high  imperial  throne  of  the  universe,  a  sinful 
nation  for  its  rejection  of  his  name  and  authority.  The 
tramp  of  these  armed  hosts  is  his  avenging  footsteps  as 
he  walketh  to  and  fro,  making  inquisition  for  the  blood 
that  crieth  to  him  from  the  ground.  This  battle  of  the 
warrior,  that  is  with  confused  noise  and  garments  rolled 
in  blood,  is  the  robe  of  vengeance  with  which  Jehovah 
has  arrayed  himself,  and  come  forth  from  his  place  to 
punish  a  guilty  nation.  "  Who  ever  perished,  being 
innocent?  or  where  were  the  righteous  cut  off?"  Xo 
nation  ever  suffered  such  calamities,  which  was  not 
guilty  of  stupendous  crimes.     We  do  not  affirm  that  as 


240  ADDRESSES  ON   SLAVERY. 

a  nation  we  are  wholly  destitute  of  the  Christian  ele- 
ment. There  is  much  in  our  country  which  is  the  direct 
result  of  its  influence.  There  are  certainly  here  a  large 
number  devotedly  attached  to  Christian  principles.  Our 
great  benevolent  and  educational  institutions  are  largely 
moulded  and  controlled  by  Christianity.  Its  powerful 
and  permeating  influence  is  everywhere  felt.  Never- 
theless, as  a  government,  we  are  not  merely  profoundly 
laic,  as  Guizot  would  say,  but  absolutely  infidel  and 
atheistic.  Our  Government  is  no  more  Christian  than 
it  is  Jewish  or  Mohammedan.  There  is  no  recognition 
of  God  in  its  Constitution,  no  allusion  to  his  name,  au- 
thority, or  law,  not  the  most  remote  allusion  to  that 
great  fundamental  truth  which,  as  the  General  Assembly 
in  its  late  deliverance  upon  this  subject  truly  declares, 
must  underlie  all  our  claims  to  be  considered  a  Christian 
nation  ;  viz.,  that  there  is  one  mediator  between  God  and 
man.1  This  judgment  of  war  is  not,  we  trust,  for  our 
destruction,  but  our  reformation ;  that  we  may  come  out 
of  the  furnace  ennobled  and  purified.  But  if  Ave  would 
avert  Heaven's  righteous  wrath  in  the  present,  and  se- 
cure its  favor  for  the  future,  we  must  have  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  God  in  our  Constitution ;  we  must  get  the 
Bible  into  the  statute-book  ;  we  must  redeem  holy  time 
from  secular  purposes ;  we  must  have  Christ  acknowl- 

1  For  a  full  discussion  of  the  infidel  and  atheistic  character  of  our  Con- 
stitution, I  refer  the  reader  to  Princeton  Review,  Art.  II.,  Octoher,  1S59; 
editorial  in  The  Independent,  Sept.  2G,  1861;  address  by  Rev.  Stephen 
II.  Tyng,  I). I).,  published  In  The  Protestant  Churchman,  Nov.  23,  30, 
ISGI ;  Rrnnon  on  the  Bull  Pun  disaster,  preached  in  the  North  Church, 
Hartford,  by  Hev.  Horace  Dushnell,  D.D. ;  sermon  preached  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Vinton  in  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  Friday,  Jan.  4,  1861.  I  regret  that 
want  of  space  prevents  me  from  laying  before  the  reader  extracts  from  these 
able  discussions,  in  which  the  positions  that  I  have  here  assumed  upou  this 
important  topic  are  most  ably  presented,  established,  and  illustrated. 


THE  THREE  PILLARS  OF   A    REPUBLIC.  241 

edged  as  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth,  assured  that 
there  is  no  future  for  nations  so  long  as  they  rebel 
against  him  and  trample  upon  his  authority.  I  am  not 
pleading  for  a  religious  establishment,  much  less  am  I 
advocating  the  claims  of  any  sect;  but  I  demand,  —  in 
the  name  of  God  I  demand,  —  that  while  attempting  to 
put  down  the  slaveholders'  rebellion  by  force  of  arms,  — 
that  as  a  means  to  this  end  we  put  down  our  own  re- 
bellion against  the  Lord  and  his  anointed  —  that  as  a 
nation  we  "  kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  we  perish 
from  the  way  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little." 

We  have  pursued  material  greatness  during  the  whole 
period  of  our  national  existence.  We  have  attained  it, 
and  it  has  burst  like  a  bubble  in  our  grasp.  We  have 
been  feeding  on  ashes.  We  have  planted  the  vine  of 
Sodom:  the  grapes  are  gall,  and  the  clusters  are  bitter. 
We  have  sowed  the  wind,  and  now  we  reap  the  whirl- 
wind. We  have  grown  rich  on  the  fruits  of  our  op- 
pressed brothers'  unpaid  toil :  two  millions  a  day  are 
thrown  into  the  bottomless  abyss  of  war.  This  must 
go  on  until  we  have  paid  back,  with  interest,  every  dol- 
lar which  we  have  made  by  the  accursed  traffic  in 
human  flesh. 

We  have  been  proud  of  our  great  improvements, 
scientific  and  mechanical.  To-day  Confederate  soldiers 
are  massed  by  means  of  the  railroad.  Jeff.  Davis  and 
Beauregard  converse  by  telegraph.  West  Point  gradu- 
ates turn  their  murderous  swords  upon  the  country  that 
educated  them.  "The  Charleston  Mercury"  has  been 
printed  by  one  of  Hoe's  patent  presses,  so  also  is  the 
not  less  treasonable  sheet  ';  The  New-York  Herald."  — 
and  "  The  New- York  Observer,"  for  aught  I  know.     Is 


242  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

it  not  time  that  we  begin  to  look  to  moral  and  spiritual 
improvement  and  advancement,  as  having  an  important 
bearing  upon  national  existence  and  glory?  This,  how- 
ever, we  shall  be  told  by  some  miserable  huckstering 
political  hack,  —  who  is  ready  at  any  moment  to  sell 
truth,  and  betray  liberty,  and  ruin  his  country,  for  the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver,  which  a  brief  tenure  of  some  petty 
office  would  secure,  —  is  visionary  and  impracticable. 
We  are  told,  with  a  sneer,  that  the  millennium  has  not 
come  yet,  and  that  it  is  too  soon  to  begin  to  shape  our 
policy  with  reference  to  that  particular  state,  of  society; 
that  Ave  must  be  'practical,  take  things  as  they  are,  and 
men  as  we  find  them.  Let  it  be  observed,  however, 
that  all  the  corruption  that  infests,  all  the  misery  that 
afflicts,  society,  are  the  legitimate  offspring  of  that  course 
of  policy  which  these  excessively  wise  and  eminently 
'practical  men  pursue  ;  that  all  advancement  which  na- 
tions make  in  the  higher  civilization,  is  secured  in  the 
very  face  of  their  most  determined  opposition  ;  that 
every  great  and  good  enterprise  is  carried  forward  in 
the  very  face  of  their  malignity  and  hostility.  James 
Buchanan  was  one  of  these  practical  statesmen.  He 
succeeded  in  ruining  his  country,  and  bringing  himself 
into  that  condition  to  which  we  may  apply  the  words  of 
Mrs.  Browning, — 

"  Not  dead,  only  damned." 

Be  assured,  young  gentlemen,  there  is  an  imperish- 
able crown  to  be  won  by  some  statesman  of  the  future, 
in  the  path  which  I  have  here  indicated.  Study  pro- 
foundly, you  who  aspire  to  the  highest  dignities  and 
honors  of  the  State,  all  the  social,  political,  and  religious 


THE  THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  243 

elements  of  your  ago  and  country.  Be  not  day-dream- 
ers, be  not  founders  of  Utopias,  but  ever  keep  before 
your  minds  the  idea  of  a  great  Christian  State.  So  far 
from  being  impracticable,  this  alone  is  possible;  for  this 
alone  exists  in  the  decree  and  promise  of  God.  He 
who  lays  the  foundation,  as  well  as  they  who  erect  the 
structure,  will  be  enshrined  in  the  grateful  remembrance 
of  mankind,  and  take  his  place  high  up  among  the 
number  of  the  immortals  who  cannot  die. 

The  greatest,  wisest,  and  best,  who  have  investigated 
and  written  upon  the  science  of  government,  declare  that 
we  have  not  yet  reached  the  solid  rock ;  that  all  that  has 
been  done  thus  far  is  mere  experiment.  So  must  it  con- 
tinue to  be,  no  matter  amid  what  disappointment  of 
hopes,  and  wreck  of  nations,  until  we  build  our  institu- 
tions upon  those  principles  that  are  eternal  as  God  him- 
self, immutable  as  the  pillars  of  the  everlasting  throne. 

The  second  great  pillar  of  a  republic  is  order  estab- 
lished by  Law. 

Of  law,  we  must  say  with  the  sublime  Hooker,  "  Its 
seat  is  the  bosom  of  God :  its  voice  is  the  harmony  of 
the  world."  Plato  places  man's  knowledge  of  law  side 
by  side  with  his  recognition  of  Deity,  as  one  of  the 
prime  evidences  of  his  superiority  to  the  irrational  crea- 
tures. Other  creatures  are  governed  by  instinct :  man 
alone  is  the  intelligent  subject  of  regular  and  systematic 
law.  True,  in  a  very  important  sense,  all  things  are 
subject  to  law :  the  world  is  universe,  not  Averse ; 
Cosmos,  not  Chaos.  The  majestic  form  of  law  is  seen 
in  every  department  of  God's  vast  empire  —  causing, 
guiding,  and  controlling.  "  In  the  uniform  plane,"  says 
Humboldt,  "  bounded  by  a  distant  horizon,  where  the 


244  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

lowly  heather,  the  eistus,  and  waving  grass  deck  the 
soil ;  on  the  ocean  shore,  where  the  waves  softly  rippling 
over  the  beach  leave  a  tract  green  with  the  weeds  of  the 
sea ;  everywhere,  the  mind  is  penetrated  by  the  same 
sense  of  the  vastness  and  grandeur  of  nature,  revealing 
to  the  soul,  by  a  mysterious  inspiration,  the  existence  of 
laivs  that  regulate  the  forces  of  the  universe."  "  God," 
says  McCosh,  "acts  everywhere  in  nature  by  natural 
agency  according  to  natural  laws."  As  science  advances, 
new  realms  are  added  to  the  dominion  of  law — as  rebel 
States  are  subdued  one  after  another  and  restored  to 
the  Union  by  the  advance  of  the  Federal  armies  — 
until  now  the  whole  domain  of  nature  is  seen  to  be 
subject  to  its  sway ;  or,  if  there  still  be  any  department 
in  which  its  operation  cannot  be  traced,  this  is  not 
because,  as  Plato  conjectured,  matter  is  not  always  sus- 
ceptible of  receiving  the  impression  of  the  divine  idea, 
but  because  of  the  imperfection  of  our  powers  or  the 
present  state  of  our  knowledge. 

I  do  not  now,  however,  employ  the  term  in  this  gen- 
eral sense,  but  in  that  more  specific  one  in  which  law  has 
been  defined  to  be  a  "  rule  prescribed  by  the  supreme 
power  of  a  State  to  its  subjects  for  regulating  their 
actions  —  particularly  their  social  actions."  I  speak  of 
that  law  whose  prerogative  is  well  defined  in  the  lines 
of  Sir  William  Jones, — 

"Sovereign  law,  the  State's  collected  will, 
O'er  thrones  and  globes  elate, 
Sits  empress,  crowning  good  —  repressing  ill." 

Other  things  being  equal,  that  State  is  most  secure, 
prosperous,  and  powerful  which  lias  the   best   code   of 


THE  THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  245 

laws,  most  sacredly  respected  and  most  wisely  adminis- 
tered. Especially  in  a  republic  is  such  a  system  and 
administration  of  law  essential.  In  such  a  government, 
law  is  next  to  religion  the  prime  safeguard  and  support. 
Without  this,  all  things  are  insecure.  Life  is  full  of 
anxiety  —  becomes  wretched,  squalid*  and  undesirable. 
The  land  relapses  into  a  wilderness  —  society  into  bar- 
barism. Remove  the  barriers  which  law  opposes  to  their 
progress,  and  society  is  swept  as  by  a  flood  with  every 
form  of  vice  and  crime. 

The  present  rebellion  is  an  infamous  revolt  against 
all  law,  human  and  divine,  and  as  such  should  be  sup- 
pressed at  whatever  cost  of  blood  and  treasure.  History 
records  no  such  causeless,  unnecessary,  unprovoked  con- 
spiracy against  lawful  authority  as  that  which  has  infected 
with  destructive  and  delirious  madness  the  Southern 
States  of  this  Union.  Men  on  whom  no  wrong  has 
been  inflicted,  from  whom  no  rights  have  been  wrested, 
from  whom  no  concession  has  been  withdrawn,  with 
whom  every  covenant  has  been  but  too  faithfully  kept, 
and  who  have  enjoyed  a  monopoly  of  the  most  honor- 
able and  lucrative  offices  of  the  State,  are  arrayed  in 
arms  against  the  government  which  has  thus  nurtured, 
cherished,  and  protected  them,  and  which  they  had 
sworn  in  the  most  sacred  and  solemn  manner  to  support 
and  defend  ;  desiring,  not,  according  to  the  hypocritical 
pretence  of  all  the  devil-possessed  since  the  days  of 
Christ,  to  be  let  alone,  but  the  entire  subversion  of  the 
Government  —  the  annihilation  of  Republican  institutions 
on  this  continent. 

In  its  avowed  purpose  of  nullifying  the  Declaration 
of  Independence ;    founding    a  government  on  slavery, 


£46  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

as  its  corner-stone ;  dividing  its  subjects  into  two 
classes,  —  the  rulers  and  the  ruled  ;  consigning  the  one 
to  complete,  perpetual,  and  hopeless  bondage,  fit  for 
nothing  but  to  pamper  the  pride  and  minister  to  the 
lusts  of  the  other,  —  this  rebellion  is  the  most  gigantic 
conspiracy  against  the  rights  of  man  and  the  authority 
of  God  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Who  has  not 
exclaimed,  in  view  of  its  success,  in  the  slightly  altered 
words  of  the  English  poet,  — 

"  Where  is  thine  arm,  O  Vengeance  !  where  thy  rod, 
That  smote  the  foes  of  Zion  and  of  God  ? 
That  crushed  proud  Ammon,  when  his  iron  car 
Was  }-oked  in  wrath,  and  thundered  from  afar? 
Where  is  the  storm  that  slumbered  till  the  host 
Of  blood-stained  Pharaoh  left  that  trembling  coast, 
Then  bade  the  deep  in  wild  commotion  flow, 
And  heaved  an  ocean  on  their  march  below?  " 

We  must  beware,  however,  of  that  fatal  mistake 
which  supposes  law  to  originate  in  the  will  of  the 
people,  and  to  derive  its  authority  from  the  mere  fact 
of  its  enactment  by  the  supreme  power  of  a  country. 
Law  has  its  foundation  in  God,  and  is  authoritative 
only  in  so  far  as  it  is  the  expression  of  his  will.  That 
is  not  law  which  the  State  makes  law,  as  that  is  not 
property  which  the  State  makes  property.  All  human 
enactments  depend  for  their  authority  upon  their  con- 
formity to  the  law  of  nature  and  the  revealed  will  of 
God,  by  which  that  law  is  confirmed,  illustrated,  and 
completed.  All  that  man  can  do  is  to  discover  and 
declare  in  form  that  law  which  (iod  has  given  for  the 
regulation  of  society.     With  the  discharge  of  this  duty, 


THE   THREE   PILLARS   OF   A   REPUBLIC.  247 

his  functions  as  a  lawgiver  cease.  lie  is  not  the  source 
of  power.  There  is  but  one  Lawgiver  :  that  is  God. 
Human  enactments  which  contravene  his  law  are  null 
and  void.  Cicero  scouts  as  insane  folly  —  considers  it  of 
all  things  the  most  absurd  —  to  suppose  that  the  rule 
of  justice  is  to  be  taken  from  the  constitutions  of  com- 
monwealths, or  that  laws  derive  their  authority  either 
from  the  will  of  the  people,  the  edicts  of  princes,  or 
the  decrees  of  judges.  Burke  exhausts  his  powers  of 
argument  in  confuting,  the  thunders  of  his  eloquence 
in  denouncing,  the  wickedness  of  supposing  that  laws 
are  valid  merely  because  promulgated  by  some  human 
tribunal.  He  declares  that  it  is  not  in  the  power  of 
any  man,  not  in  that  of  the  whole  race,  to  alter  or 
repeal  any  of  the  laws  which  the  Lawgiver  of  the 
universe  has  given  for  the  rule  of  our  conduct ;  that 
no  argument  of  prescriptive  right,  none  of  policy,  or  of 
preservation  of  a  constitution,  can  for  a  moment  be 
pleaded,  either  for  their  enactment,  or  then*  observance 
when  once  they  have  been  enacted ;  that  human  laws 
may  affect  the  mode  of  application,  but  have  no  power 
over  the  substance,  of  original  justice.  All  those  laws, 
therefore,  which  create  artificial  distinctions  among  men, 
—  which  oppress  the  few  for  the  advantage  of  the 
many,  which  do  not  secure  to  all  men  the  enjoyment 
of  equal  rights,  —  are  unauthorized  by  God,  and,  conse- 
quently, have  no  proper  validity.  Laws  are  for  the 
poor,  the  weak,  the  defenceless.  The  rich  and  power- 
ful can  take  care  of  themselves.  They  arc  for  the  cot- 
tage —  the  palace  can  do  without  them  ;  for  the  peasant 
rather  than  for  the  peer. 

Just  here  we  strike  at  one  of  our  great  national  in- 


248  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

iquities  —  one  of  those  sins  which  are  at  this  moment 
bringing  down  upon  us  the  righteous  judgments  of 
Heaven.  The  storm  has  long  been  gathering.  Now  that 
it  has  burst,  it  would  be  wise  to  remove  the  cause,  and 
not,  as  Victor  Hugo  says,  "  blame  the  thunderbolt." 
There  has  existed  in  this  country,  and  enforced  by  all 
the  power  of  the  Government,  an  infernal  code,  com- 
pared with  which  that  of  Draco  was  merciful,  —  a  code 
which  places  a  class,  now  amounting  to  four  millions, 
beneath  the  iron  heel  of  the  most  atrocious  tyranny 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen,  depriving  them  of  every 
right  that  man  holds  dear,  and  compelling  them  to  the 
endurance  of  every  outrage  from  which  human  nature 
shrinks  and  recoils,  —  a  code  which  future  ages  will  read 
with  astonishment  and  with  wonder  at  the  barbarity  of 
the  age  in  which  it  was  enacted  and  tolerated.  These 
laws  are  not  confined,  unfortunately,  to  the  rebel  States. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  Border  States,  Northern  States, 
infected  by  that  frenzy  which  slavery  has  infused  into 
all  the  veins  of  the  nation,  retain  even  now,  in  the  very 
face  of  these  terrific  judgments,  those  infamous  enact- 
ments, properly  styled  "  black  laws,"  upon  their  statute- 
books.  One  has  repealed  her  Personal-liberty  Bill. 
Another,  outstripping  her  sisters  in  the  race  of  infamy, 
has  sanctioned,  by  vast  majorities,  constitutional  clauses 
which  forbid  men,  guilty  of  a  skin  not  colored  like  their 
own,  the  privilege  even  of  a  home  upon  her  soil.  We 
still  permit  a  Taney  to  defile  the  place  of  justice  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States ;  leaving  it  in  his 
power  to  fetter  liberty  by  his  infamous  decisions,  and 
insult  God  and  outrage  humanity  by  that  infernal  dictum, 
"  Black  men  have  no  rights  that  white  men  are  bound 


THE  THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  249 

to  respect."  The  Fugitive-slave  Law  is  still  executed 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  But  a  short  time  since,  a 
slave,  escaping  from  his  pursuer,  ran  up  the  steps  of 
the  Capitol,  and  clung  with  fettered  hands  to  one  of  the 
pillars  which  support  it ;  was  there  seized  by  the  tor- 
mentor, dragged  from  that  temple  sacred  to  liberty,  and 
thrust  back  into  the  hell  of  bondage  from  which  he  was 
attempting  to  escape.  It  is  absolutely  little  short  of 
hypocrisy  for  us  to  complain  of  the  barbarism  of  the 
South,  while  we  continue  to  tolerate  such  enormities. 
It  is  the  savage  spirit  of  slavery  that  violates  the  grave 
—  that  last  sanctuary  that  even  the  heathen  respect; 
that  shoots  captive  soldiers  for  looking  out  of  the  win- 
dows of  the  foul  dens  in  which  they  are  imprisoned ; 
that  fires  upon  flags  of  truce,  and  upon  scalded  wretches 
striving  to  save  the  remnants  of  a  miserable  life  from 
drowning ;  and  it  is  the  same  spirit  in  kind,  although 
not  quite  so  malignant  in  degree,  which  prevents  us 
from  repealing  at  once  this  whole  system  of  inhuman 
and  brutal  enactments,  which  robs  and  oppresses  a  race 
because  the  sun  has  looked  upon  them  and  they  are 
black.  How  can  we  expect  the  avenging  angel  to 
sheathe  that  sword  which  is  now  extended  over  the 
land,  while  there  is  neither  repentance  nor  reformation  ? 

"  Neque 
Per  nostrum  patimur  scelus 
Iracunda  Jovem  ponere  fulinina." 

A  band  of  traitors,  carrying  with  them  a  few  honest 
and  not  a  few  weak-minded  men,  as  the  fiery  nucleus  of 
the  comet  carries  the  tail,  tell  us  that  all  this  agitation 
of  these  subjects  now  is  imprudent,  dangerous,  cxaspe- 


250  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

rates  the  South,  and  prevents  the  restoration  of  peace. 
There  is  one  way  of  securing  peace :  only  one.  It  is 
not  the  rosewater  plan :  it  is  to  crush  rebellion  by  the 
force  of  arms ;  but,  in  order  to  accomplish  this,  we  must 
have  the  God  of  battles  upon  our  side.  The  only  way 
in  which  we  can  secure  him  as  an  ally,  is  by  forsaking 
the  sins  which  have  provoked  his  wrath.  As  well 
attempt  conciliation  with  a  volcano  or  a  whirlwind,  as 
with  this  rebellion.  "  Leviathan  is  not  thus  tamed." 
No.  Expect  to  bind  the  ocean  with  a  chain,  or  lash  its 
sullen  waves  into  submission,  but  be  not  so  mad  as  to 
suppose  that  you  can  subdue  this  rebellion  in  any  other 
way  than  by  the  employment  of  all  the  means  which 
God  has  put  in  our  power.  When  we  have  aroused 
such  a  moral  sentiment  in  the  North  as  shall  demand 
and  compel  freedom  from  all  complicity  with  slavery,  — 
the  repeal  of  every  enactment  which  is  based  upon  a 
distinction  of  color,  —  then,  and,  in  my  judgment,  not  till 
then,  shall  we  successfully  put  down  this  terrible  con- 
spiracy. We  are  still,  as  a  nation,  in  rebellion  against 
the  government  of  God;  and  we  must  abandon  this 
wickedness  ere  we  can  expect  success  in  our  cause, 
however  manifestly  just  and  right.  If  we  could  sweep 
away  this  whole  system  of  unrighteous  law,  I  would 
have  more  confidence  in  that  single  act  of  justice  as  a 
means  of  crushing  the  rebellion  than  in  the  most  numer- 
ous and  best-appointed  army  that  we  can  call  into  the 
field.  That  nation  which  believes  that  there  can  be  any 
obligatory  law  for  such  a  crime  as  slavery,  and  which 
continues  to  act  on  such  a  belief,  is  sunk  in  the  depths 
of  infidelity  and  atheism,  and,  without  speedy  repent- 
ance, is  lost.     The  only  right  which  slavery  possesses  is 


THE   THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  251 

the  right  of  extinction ;  it  should  be  considered  a  fugi- 
tive and  a  vagabond  on  the  face  of  the  earth  :  and  every 
man  that  meets  it  should  possess  the  legal,  as  he  pos- 
sesses the  natural  and  inherent,  right  to  kill  it.  Slavery 
has  no  rights  which  any  man,  white  or  black,  is  bound 
to  respect. 

The  third  great  pillar  of  a  republic  is  Liberty.  The 
enjoyment  of  liberty  is,  of  course,  essential  to  the  very 
idea  of  republican  government.  A  government  which 
does  not  secure  the  largest  amount  of  personal  freedom 
compatible  with  security  and  order  to  all  under  its 
supervision,  is  a  republic  only  in  name,  not  in  fact. 
The  condition  of  things  in  our  own  country  is  peculiar 
and  anomalous.  The  free  States  are  democratic  repub- 
lics. In  them  free  institutions  spring  up  spontaneously, 
and  nourish  vigorously  :  in  them  man's  capacity  for  self- 
government  has  been  proved  upon  a  large  scale,  and 
found  eminently  practicable.  The  slave  States  are  aris- 
tocracies—  the  meanest,  I  grant,  of  all  aristocracies  — 
not  an  aristocracy  of  intellect,  not  one  of  blood,  not  one 
even  of  wealth,  odious  as  that  is,  but  an  aristocracy  in 
which  the  members  take  precedence  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  human  beings  that  they  are  able  to  buy, 
hold,  sell,  or  breed.  There  free  institutions  are  exotics: 
they  are  only  introduced  to  languish  for  a  time,  and 
ultimately  expire.  In  the  slave  States  nothing  has  been 
proved  but  the  fact  frequently  before  demonstrated,  — 
the  essential  tendency  of  slavery  to  curse  with  blight 
and  barrenness  the  soil  on  which  its  foul  footsteps  are 
planted,  and  to  degrade  and  madden,  brutalize  and  bar- 
barize, the  community  which  practises  the  unnatural 
enormity. 


252  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

The  British  —  meaning  by  that  term  not  the  liberal 
and  enlightened  few  in  the  British  Isles  who  have 
clearly  understood  this  controversy  from  the  first,  and 
who,  of  course,  are  intelligently  and  heartily  with  the 
North,  but  meaning  by  it  the  great  mass  of  their  aristo- 
cratic, trading,  and  manufacturing  classes,  their  influ- 
ential press,  at  the  head  of  which,  in  spite  of  all 
disclaimers,  stands  "  The  Times,"  and  their  leading 
statesmen,  such  as  Palmerston,  Russell,  and  Brougham 
—  are  speaking  of  our  present  struggle  as  the  trial 
of  Democracy,  and  holding  it  up  as  an  example  of  the 
failure  of  Republican  institutions.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  such  a  view  of  the  case  is  utterly  false  and  absurd. 
That  which  we  have  attempted,  and  which  this  gigantic 
conflict  proves  a  disastrous  failure,  is  the  union  of  slave 
aristocracies  and  free  republics  in  one  federal  compact. 
We  see  before  our  eyes  a  demonstration,  written  as  with 
a  sunbeam,  of  the  utter  incompatibility  between  free- 
dom and  slavery  —  the  absolute  impossibility  of  States 
partly  free  and  partly  slave  cohering  in  one  great 
empire  under  the  same  form  of  government.  Of  course, 
we  would  not  attempt  to  convince  these  European  aris- 
tocrats of  their  mistake.  Any  hope  of  opening  eyes  so 
blinded  by  self-interest,  by  pride  and  by  prejudice,  would 
be  wholly  chimerical.  We  say  of  them,  as  David  of 
Shimei,  "  Let  them  curse  on."  If,  however,  they  expect 
to  derive  any  additional  support  for  their  rotten  tyran- 
nies, or  to  see  the  experiment  of  self-government  prove 
a  failure,  from  the  present  convulsion,  the  sequel  will 
prove  how  far  they  have  miscalculated,  how  wide  of  the 
mark  has  been  their  judgment  of  the  true  issue.  No, 
gentlemen,  it  is  not  freedom,  but  slavery,  that  is  on  trial. 


THE  THREE  PILLARS  OF   A  REPUBLIC.  253 

With  shameless  effrontery  it  has  appealed  to  the  ordeal 
of  battle.  The  verdict  guilty  has  been  pronounced  upon 
it.  More  than  half  a  million  men  in  arms  stand  ready 
at  that  word  of  command  which  cannot  with  safety  be 
longer  delayed,  to  give  its  carcass  to  the  fowls  of  the  air 
and  the  beasts  of  the  field.  Disguise  it  as  we  may,  this 
conflict  is  with  slavery.  This,  and  this  alone,  is  the  "  fons 
et  orifjo  malorum  "  to  our  distracted  country.  If  we  do 
not  put  slavery  down,  slavery  will  put  us  down.  If  we 
do  not  destroy  it,  it  will  destroy  us.  One  or  the  other 
must  go  under.  The  blindness  is  most  amazing  which 
docs  not  see  this ;  the  infatuation  most  unaccountable 
which  does  not  recognize  and  accept  the  issue.  It  is  no 
use  to  fight  with  great  or  small  until  we  have  struck 
the  monster  to  the  heart  whose  horrible  convolutions 
and  lashings  threaten  the  life  of  this  great  nation.  So 
long  as  we  leave  slavery  intact,  and  persist  in  defend- 
ing it,  we  are  fighting  rebellion  with  one  hand  tied. 
Slavery  is  its  cause,  its  chief  support,  its  inspiring  mad- 
ness. It  feeds  and  clothes  the  rebel  armies ;  it  performs 
all  the  oppressive  work  in  the  camp  and  on  the  march  ;  it 
fights  also  in  the  ranks,  for  the  rebel  soldier  is  not  such 
a  fool  as  to  care  whether  he  fights  with  white  or  black, 
provided  he  conquers ;  and  it  furnishes  the  only  possible 
pretext  for  prolonging  this  inhuman  strife. 

The  duty  to  which  God  calls  the  nation  to-day  is 
immediate,  unconditional,  and  universal  emancipation. 
To  this  he  has  long  called  us  by  the"  voice  of  his  Word, 
and  by  the  faithful  men  who  have  foreseen  the  present 
danger,  and  attempted  by  warning,  entreaty,  and  remon- 
strance to  avert  the  storm  which  has  now  burst  in 
such  appalling  fury  upon  us ;  but  more  loudly  now  in 


254  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

these  terrific  judgments  does  he  thunder  in  our  ears, 
"  Let  my  people  go."  If  we  disregard  this  command, 
all  that  we  have  yet  suffered  is  but  the  beginning  of 
sorrows,  the  first  big  drops  that  prelude  the  storm,  the 
first  shadows  of  that  darker  night  that  is  yet  before  us. 
If  we  obey,  this  stupendous  conspiracy  will  vanish  like 
the  mists  of  the  morning  before  the  light  of  the  sun, 
dissolve,  and  like  an  unsubstantial  pageant  faded, 
"  leave  not  a  rack  behind."  A  Decree  of  Emancipation, 
promulgated  not  merely  as  a  war-measure,  but  as  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  right  of  all  men  to  liberty,  and 
as  a  declaration  of  national  repentance  for  long  com- 
plicity with  the  guilt  of  slavery,  would  transfer  the 
strength  of,  the  rebellion  to  our  side,  and,  as  we  confi- 
dently believe,  secure  the  favor  of  Him  without  whose 
smile  in  vain  are  all  our  navies,  armies,  and  munitions 
of  war.  Border-State  men  —  that  ill-omened  incubus 
that  has  rested  like  a  nightmare  during  this  conflict 
upon  the  administration,  and  disturbed  it  with  dreams 
of  imaginary  perils  —  declare  that  we  must  not  emanci- 
pate and  arm  the  slaves,  because  they  would  turn 
upon  and  massacre  their  masters  !  Wouldn't  that  be  a 
calamity  just  now?  Who  does  not  shudder  at  the 
thought  of  a  few  thousand  rebels  being  giving  up  to 
the  musket,  sword,  and  gibbet?  But  they  would  kill 
the  innocent  and  defenceless  women  and  children  !  This 
is  an  assertion  wholly  unsupported — another  one  of 
that  enormous  system  of  lies  on  which  slavery  rests,  and 
by  which  it  aims  to  preserve  its  hateful  life.  Colored 
soldiers  would  be  like  other  soldiers  —  no  better,  no 
worse.  But  suppose  emancipation  would  lead  to  insur- 
rection —  let  this,  which  we  by  no  means  admit,  be  for 


THE   THREE   PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  255 

the  moment  granted  —  then,  I  say,  it  is  better,  far  better, 
that  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  every  rebel  State 
should   perish   in  one  wide-spread,  bloody,  and   indis- 
criminate slaughter  ;  better  that  the  land  should  become 
a  Sahara  —  be  as  when  God  destroyed  the  Canaanitcs, 
or  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  —  than   that   this 
rebellion  should  be  successful.     Infinitely  more  precious 
to  me  are  the  lives  of  Northern  soldiers,  the  inalienable 
rights  of  man,  and  the  interests  of  humanity,  than  the 
lives  of  Southern  traitors.     I  confess  it,  my  sympathies 
are  not  just  now  enlisted  in  imaginary  evils  that  might 
befall  the  homes  and  families  of  guilty  rebels,  but  in  the 
actual  woes,  the  sorrows  and  desolations,  of  Northern 
homes,  the  suffering  of  the  innocent  women  and  children 
of  the  North,  whose  sons,  husbands,  fathers,  and  brothers 
are  cold  and  low  in  death,  cut  off  by  the  sword  of  the 
traitor   and   rebel.     I  have   no  words    to    express  the 
loathing  and  scorn  of  my  soul  for  the  whining,  canting, 
snivelling  hypocrisy  that  is  so  tender  of  those  whose 
tender  mercies  we  have  proved,  and  found  them  to  be 
cruel.     The  wan  faces   of  the  heroic  men  who  return 
wounded  and   maimed  from  the   field   of  battle ;    the 
groans  of  those  who  fall,  pierced  through  and  through 
with    the    dagger  which  slavery  has   drawn  ;  the  tears 
that  I  see  shed  in  the  house,  on  the  street,  and  along 
all  the  lines  of  travel,  for  some  beloved  one,  who  was, 
but  is  no  more  ;  the  noble  fellows,  scarred  and  maimed 
until  there  is  scarcely  enough  of  body  left  to  hold  the 
proud   and  daring   spirit,  —  these  are   the    things   that 
move  my  pity,  and  touch  my  heart.     My  concern  is,  just 
now.  how  to  save  the  innocent,  the  loyal,  and  the  true. 
T  confess  myself  somewhat  indifferent  as  to  the  present 


256  ADDRESSES  ON  SLAVERY. 

fate  of  the  rebel,  the  traitor,  and  the  criminal.  If  they 
would  not  be  crushed  by  the  falling  fabric,  let  them 
stand  from  under.  If  they  would  not  be  ground  to 
powder,  let  them  remove  from  the  path  upon  which  are 
rolling  the  wheels  of  a  righteous  Providence.  But  we 
must  not  emancipate  and  arm  the  slave,  for  that  would 
be  unconstitutional ! 

"  But,  oh  !  for  him  my  fancy  culls 
The  choicest  flowers  she  bears, 
"Who  constitutionally  pulls 
Your  house  about  your  ears." 

From  whom  comes  this  cry  of  unconstitutionality  1 
Who  are  they  who  are  so  profoundly  exercised  for  the 
safety  of  the  Constitution  1  The  followers  and  lackeys 
of  the  men  who  have  been  plotting  and  planning  the 
subversion  of  the  Government  for  the  past  ten  years. 
Chief  among  this  band  of  Constitutional  patriots  we  find 
the  name  of  Clement  Vallandigham,  a  disgrace  to  the 
mother  who  bore  him,  to  this  our  honored  "  Alma 
Mater"  that  educated  him,  and,  above  all,  to  the  noble 
State,  a  part  of  whose  citizens  he  misrepresents  in  Con- 
gress. We  cannot  delay  to  particularize  these  worthies, 
of  whom  Vallandigham  is  the  head,  and  Ben  Wood  the 
tail :  suffice  it  to  say,  they  have  raised  this  cry  of  Con- 
stitution merely  as  a  covering  wherewithal  to  disguise 
their  treason. 

"  Oh  for  a  tongue  to  curse  the  slave, 

Whose  treason,  like  a  deadly  blight, 
Comes  o'er  the  councils  of  the  brave, 
To  blast  them  in  the  hour  of  might !  " 

I  freely  admit  that  there  are  unfortunate  concessions  to 
slavery  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.     The 


THE   THREE  PILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  257 

patriotic  men  who  framed  that  able  instrument  made  a 
fatal  mistake  in  allowing  slavery  a  place  in  that  docu- 
ment. They  expected  it  to  die ;  but  they  should  have 
made  sure  of  it  by  strangling  it  in  its  infancy,  and  while 
they  had  the  power.  I  also  admit  that  in  time  of  peace 
the  power  of  abolishing  slavery  belongs  of  right  to  the 
States ;  but  in  war  all  this  is  reversed.  And  now  that 
the  slave  States,  as  such,  are  in  revolt,  and  threatening 
the  very  life  of  the  nation,  it  is  Constitutional  to  adopt 
any  measure  that  safety  demands ;  and  especially,  as 
John  Quincy  Adams  long  ago  demonstrated,  is  it  Con- 
stitutional in  such  an  emergency  to  abolish  slavery.  To 
say  that  there  is  any  thing  essential  to  the  existence  of 
the  nation  which  yet  we  may  not  do,  because  unconsti- 
tutional, is  an  absurdity  that  no  sane  man  can  for  a 
moment  tolerate.  Is  it  Constitutional  to  save  the  life  of 
the  nation  ?  Is  not  the  nation  more  than  the  Constitu- 
tion ?  Was  not  the  Constitution  made  for  the  nation, 
and  not  the  nation  for  the  Constitution  \  The  Consti- 
tution is  nothing  but  a  paper  —  a  mere  parchment  — 
good  for  nothing  except  in  so  far  as  it  answers  the  great 
end  for  which  it  was  framed.  The  moment  it  fails  to 
do  this,  we  not  only  may,  but  should,  cast  it  aside,  and 
make  another.  If  it  were  true  that  the  Constitution 
stands  in  the  way  of  the  salvation  of  the  nation,  then  at 
once  I  would  cut  the  Gordian  knot,  tear  the  Constitu- 
tion to  tatters,  and  trample  it  under  foot.  "What  sort  of 
a  Constitution  is  that  which  binds  the  nation  hand  and 
foot  while  the  hosts  of  treason  and  rebellion  overrun 
and  destroy  it?  This  insane  cry  about  the  Constitution 
is  a  most  foolish  idolatry.  It  has  worked  abundant  mis- 
chief already,  and  will  accomplish  still  more  if  we  do 


258  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

not  open  our  eyes  to  see  that  it  is  preposterous  folly. 
There  are  times  in  which  law  may  be  broken,  and  in 
which  it  becomes  a  sacred  duty  to  override  constitutions. 
This  is  beautifully  illustrated  by  Huntington  in  his  ad- 
mirable workj  "  The  Divine  Aspects  of  Human  Society," 
by  an  incident  in  Italian  history,  copied  from  the  lec- 
tures of  Mr.  Greenough,  the  eminent  sculptor.  It  is 
so  applicable  at  the  present  crisis,  that  it  appears  to 
have  been  framed  for  the  express  purpose  of  illustrating 
it. 

';  When  the  great  obelisk,  brought  from  Egypt,  was 
erected  by  Fontana  in  the  Square  of  St.  Peter's  in  1586, 
it  was  determined  to  make  that  gigantic  undertaking  an 
incarnation  of  the  knowledge  and  resources  of  Home. 
They  arranged  the  tackle,  and  prepared  their  hands  for 
the  delicate  and  perilous  work.  To  make  all  safe,  and 
prevent  the  possibility  of  accident  from  some  sudden  cry 
or  alarm,  a  Papal  edict  was  proclaimed  by  Sixtus  V., 
promising  death  to  any  man  who  should  utter  a  loud 
word  until  the  engineer  gave  the  signal  that  all  risk  was 
past. 

"As  the  majestic  monolith  moved  up,  the  populace 
closed  in,  the  Square  was  crowded  with  admiring  eyes 
and  beating  hearts.  Slowly  that  huge  crystallization  of 
Egyptian  sweat  —  fit  emblem  of  the  toil-wrought  column 
of  a  civilized  state  —  rose  on  its  basis  —  five  degrees  — 
ten  —  fifteen  —  twenty.  Ah,  there  are  signs  of  falter- 
ing !  No  matter.  No  voice.  Silence  !  It  moves  again 
—  twenty-five,  thirty,  forty,  forty-three.  It  stops.  Now 
there  is  trouble.  Lo !  those  hempen  cables,  that,  like 
faithful  servants,  have  obeyed  the  mathematician,  have 
suddenly  lugged  out  an  order  from  God  not  to  hold  the 


THE   THREE  TILLARS  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  259 

base  steady  any  longer  upon  those  terms.  The  en- 
gineer, who  knew  the  handwriting  of  that  order,  trem- 
bled. The  obedient  masons  looked  on  each  other, 
silent,  and  then  watched  the  threatening,  hanging  mass 
of  stone.  The  unspoken  question  was,  Which  way 
would  it  fall  ?  Among  the  crowd,  silence  —  silence 
everywhere ;  and  the  sun  poured  down  upon  the  still- 
ness and  the  despair.  Suddenly,  from  out  that  breath- 
less mass  of  men  rang  a  cry,  clear  as  an  archangel's 
trump,  '  Wet  the  ropes ! '  The  crowd  turned  to  look. 
Tiptoe,  on  a  post,  in  a  jacket  of  homespun,  his  eyes  full 
of  prophetic  fire,  and  his  whole  figure  wild,  and  lost  in 
his  irresistible  emotion,  stood  a  workman  of  the  people. 
His  words  flashed  like  the  lightning,  and  struck.  From 
the  chief  engineer  to  his  lowest  servant,  that  lawless  cry 
had  instant  obedience.  Water  was  dashed  upon  the 
cables.  They  bit  fiercely  into  the  granite.  The  wind- 
lasses were  manned  once  more.  The  obelisk  rose  to  its 
place,  and  took  its  stand  for  centuries." 

Gentlemen,  our  country  hangs  in  such  a  perilous  posi- 
tion. Friends  ask  in  fear,  and  foes  in  scorn,  Which  way 
will  it  fall?  Command  or  no  command,  law  or  no  law, 
Constitution  or  no  Constitution,  let  us  shout,  Wet  the 
ropes !  Free  the  Slaves  !  Then  will  our  country  be 
rescued  from  her  perilous  position ;  this  foul  blot  will 
be  erased  from  her  escutcheon  ;  she  will  ascend  grandly 
to  her  place,  and  stand  through  the  centuries,  an  object 
of  respect  and  admiration  to  the  world ! 


TO  HIS  EXCELLENCY  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 

PRESIDENT    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.1 


We  visit  you,  Mr.  President,  as  the  representatives  of 
the  Reformed  Presbyterian,  or,  as  it  is  frequently  termed, 
"  Scotch  Covenanter,"  Church,  —  a  Church  whose  sacri- 
fices and  sufferings  in  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  lib- 
erty are  a  part  of  the  world's  history,  and  to  which  we 
are  indebted,  no  less  than  to  the  Puritans,  for  those  ines- 
timable privileges  so  largely  enjoyed  in  the  free  States 
of  this  Union,  and  which,  true  to  its  high  lineage  and 
ancient  spirit,  does  not  hold  within  its  pale  a  single 
Secessionist,  or  sympathizer  with  rebellion,  in  these 
United  States. 

Our  Church  has  unanimously  declared,  by  the  voice  of 
her  highest  court,  that  the  world  has  never  seen  a  con- 
flict in  which  right  was  more  clearly  wholly  upon  the 
one  side,  and  wrong  upon  the  other,  than  in  the  present 
struggle  of  this  Government  with  this  slaveholders' 
rebellion.     She  has  also  unanimously  declared  her  deter- 

1  This  address  was  the  joint  production  of  Dr.  Sloane  and  his  brother-in- 
law,  Dr.  A.  M.  Milligan,  who  presented  it  together  to  Mr.  Lincoln  In  person. 
It  was  kindly  received;  and  the  President  expressed  his  satisfaction  that  the 
first  part  of  the  distinctive  principles  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
was  so  near  realization,  and  his  hope  that  he  might  assist  in  carrying  out 
the  second  portion  as  well.  It  seems  prohahle  from  the  condition  of  the 
manuscript,  that  the  fust  half  of  this  address  was  written  by  Dr.  Sloane, 
and  the  second  half  by  Dr.  Milligan. 
260 


TO  HIS  EXCELLENCY  THE  PRESIDENT.  261 

mination  to  assist  the  Government  by  all  lawful  means 
in  her  power  in  its  conflict  with  this  atrocious  conspir- 
acy, until  it  be  utterly  overthrown  and  annihilated. 

Profoundly  impressed  with  the  immense  importance 
of  the  issues  involved  in  this  contest,  and  with  the  solemn 
responsibilities  which  rest  upon  the  Chief  Magistrate  in 
this  time  of  the  nation's  peril,  our  brethren  have  com- 
missioned us  to  come  and  address  you  words  of  sympa- 
thy and  encouragement,  also  to  express  to  you  views 
which,  in  their  judgment,  have  an  important  bearing 
upon  the  present  condition  of  affairs  in  our  beloved 
country ;  to  congratulate  you  on  what  has  already  been 
accomplished  in  crushing  rebellion,  and  to  exhort  you  to 
persevere  in  the  work,  until  it  has  been  finally  completed. 

Entertaining  no  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  the  entire  jus- 
tice of  the  cause  in  which  the  nation  is  embarked,  we 
nevertheless  consider  the  war  a  just  judgment  of 
Almighty  God  for  the  sin  of  rejecting  his  authority,  and 
enslaving  our  fellow-men,  and  are  firmly  persuaded  that 
his  wrath  will  not  be  appeased,  and  that  no  permanent 
peace  will  be  attained,  until  his  authority  be  recognized, 
and  the  abomination  that  maketh  desolate  utterly  extir- 
pated. 

As  an  anti-slavery  church  of  the  most  radical  school, 
believing  slavery  to  be  a  heinous  and  aggravated  sin 
both  against  God  and  man,  and  to  be  placed  in  the  same 
category  with  piracy,  murder,  adultery,  and  theft,  it  is 
our  solemn  conviction  that  God  by  his  Word  and  Provi- 
dence is  calling  the  nation  to  immediate,  unconditional, 
and  universal  emancipation.  We  hear  his  voice  in  these 
thunders  of  war  saying  to  us,  "  Let  my  people  go." 
Nevertheless,  we  have  hailed  with  delighted  satisfaction 


262  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

the  several  steps  which  you  have  taken  in  the  direction 
of  emancipation.  Especially  do  we  rejoice  in  your  late 
proclamation,  declaring  your  purpose  to  free  the  slaves 
in  the  rebel  States  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  an 
act  which,  when  carried  out,  will  give  the  death-blow 
to  rebellion,  strike  the  fetters  from  millions  of  bondmen, 
and  will  secure  for  its  author  a  place  high  among  the 
wisest  of  rulers  and  the  noblest  benefactors  of  the  race. 
Permit  us,  then,  Mr.  President,  most  respectfully  yet 
most  earnestly,  to  urge  upon  you  the  importance  of 
enforcing  that  proclamation  to  the  utmost  extent  of  that 
power  with  which  you  are  vested.  Let  it  be  placed  on 
the  highest  grounds  of  Christian  justice  and  philan- 
thropy ;  let  it  be  declared  to  be  an  act  of  national  repent- 
ance for  long  complicity  with  the  guilt  of  slavery. 
Permit  nothing  to  tarnish  the  glory  of  the  act,  or  rob  it 
of  its  sublime  moral  significance  and  grandeur,  and  it  can- 
not fail  to  meet  a  hearty  response  in  the  conscience  of  the 
nation,  and  to  secure  infinite  blessings  to  our  distracted 
country.  Let  not  the  declaration  of  the  immortal  Burke 
in  this  instance  be  verified:  "  Good  works  are  commonly 
left  in  a  rude  and  imperfect  state  through  the  tame  cir- 
cumspection with  which  a  timid  prudence  so  frequently 
enervates  beneficence.  In  doing  good  we  are  cold, 
languid,  and  sluggish,  and  of  all  things  afraid  of  being 
too  much  in  the  right."  We  urge  you  by  every  consid- 
eration drawn  from  the  Word  of  God  and  the  present 
condition  of  our  bleeding  country,  not  to  be  moved 
from  the  path  of  duty,  on  which  you  have  so  auspiciously 
entered,  either  by  the  threats  or  blandishments  of  the 
enemies  of  human  progress,  nor  to  permit  this  great  act 
to  lose  its  power  through  the  fears  of  its  timid  friends. 


TO   HIS  EXCELLENCY   THE  PRESIDENT.  263 

There  is  another  point  which  we  esteem  of  prominent 
importance,  and  to  which  we  wish  briefly  to  call  your 
attention.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  con- 
tains no  acknowledgment  of  the  authority  of  God,  of 
his  Christ,  or  of  his  law  as  contained  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. This  we  deeply  deplore,  as  wholly  inconsistent 
with  all  claim  to  be  considered  a  Christian  nation,  or  to 
enjoy  the  protection  and  favor  of  God.  The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  above  all  earthly  rulers.  He  is  King  of  kings, 
and  Lord  of  lords.  He  is  the  one  Mediator  between 
God  and  man,  through  whom  alone  either  nations  or 
individuals  can  secure  the  favor  of  the  Most  High  God, 
who  is  saying  to  us  in  these  judgments,  "  Be  wise  now, 
therefore,  O  ye  kings !  be  instructed,  O  ye  judges  of  the 
earth !  serve  the  Lord  with  fear.  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he 
be  angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way,  when  his  wrath  is 
kindled  but  a  little.  Blessed  are  all  they  that  trust  in 
him.  For  the  nation  and  kingdom  that  will  not  serve 
thee  shall  perish  ;  yea,  those  nations  shall  be  utterly 
wasted." 

This  time  appears  to  us  most  opportune  for  calling 
the  nation  to  a  recognition  of  the  name  and  authority  of 
God,  to  the  claims  of  him  who  will  overturn,  overturn, 
and  overturn,  until  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ.  We 
indulge  the  hope,  Mr.  President,  that  you  have  been 
called,  with  your  ardent  love  of  liberty,  your  profound 
moral  convictions  manifested  in  your  sabbath  proclama- 
tion, and  in  your  frequent  declarations  of  dependence 
upon  Divine  Providence,  to  your  present  position  of  honor 
and  influence,  to  free  our  beloved  country  from  the 
curse  of  slavery,  and  secure  for  it  the  favor  of  the  great 


264  ADDRESSES  OX  SLAVERY. 

Ruler  of  the  universe.  Shall  we  not  now  set  the  world 
an  example  of  a  Christian  State  governed,  not  by  the 
principles  of  mere  political  expediency,  but  acting  under 
a  sense  of  accountability  to  God,  and  in  obedience  to 
those  laws  of  immutable  morality  which  are  binding 
alike  upon  nations  and  individuals  ? 

We  pray  that  you  may  be  directed  in  your  responsible 
position  by  divine  wisdom,  that  God  may  throw  over  you 
the  shield  of  his  protection,  that  we  may  soon  see  rebel- 
lion crushed,  its  cause  removed,  and  our  land  become 
Immanuei's  land. 


ADDRESSES 


NATIONAL   REFORM,   TEMPERANCE, 

FREEMASONRY,   EVOLUTION,   YOUNG   MEN'S 

CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS,  PREACHING, 

AND   THEOLOGY. 


THE  MORAL  CHARACTER  AND  ACCOUNT- 
ABILITY OF  THE  NATION.1 


The  principle  involved  in  the  very  statement  of  the 
theme  which  has  been  assigned  me  is  one  of  vital 
importance  to  the  existence  and  prosperity  of  the  State. 

That  a  nation  is  possessed  of  moral  character,  that  it 
is,  therefore,  a  subject  of  moral  law,  and  consequently 
accountable  to  God,  is  not  theory,  but  fact ;  not  hypothe- 
sis, but  science.  When  I  say,  not  theory,  but  fact ;  not 
hypothesis,  but  science,  —  I  do  not  mean  that  the  truth  is 
so  demonstrated  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  ingenious 
objection  and  cavil.  It  is  conceded,  I  presume,  that  the 
Copernican  system  of  astronomy  is  demonstrated ;  and 
yet  it  is  not  many  months  since  I  heard  a  man  in  the 
cars  declare  that  the  question  as  to  whether  the  earth 
revolved  around  the  sun  was  one  upon  which  a  great 
deal  could  be  said  on  both  sides,  and  for  his  part  he  did 
not  believe  that  it  did.  Harvey  testified  that  there  was 
not  a  physician  in  Europe,  over  forty  years  of  age,  who 
accepted  his  doctrine  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood ; 
and  yet  it  is  generally  conceded,  we  believe,  that  it  is  a 
demonstrated  fact.  That  all  men  do  not  admit  that 
a  nation  is  a  moral  being,  and.  accountable  to  God,  does 
not  prove  that  it  is  not  an  established  principle  of  moral 
and  political  science. 

1  Cincinnati,  Jan.  31,  1872. 
2G6 


MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATION".  267 

The  denial  of  the  moral  character  and  accountability 
of  the  State  is  of  the  nature  of  atheism :  it  is  practi- 
cally a  denial  of  God's  providential  government  —  leads 
to  the  subversion  of  morals,  the  annihilation  of  all 
rights,  the  overthrow  of  rational  freedom,  and  the 
destruction  of  the  State  itself. 

A  nation  is  a  creature  of  God.  In  the  language  of 
Franklin,  "  If  a  sparrow  cannot  fall  to  the  ground  with- 
out his  notice,  much  less  can  an  empire  rise  without 
his  aid."  It  is  not  of  man,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but 
of  God ;  created  not  by  physical,  but  by  moral,  forces  ; 
not  in  the  sphere  of  his  material,  but  of  his  moral, 
government.  We  have  the  highest  authority  for  com- 
paring a  nation  to  a  mountain  ;  but  other  forces  than 
those  which  have  upheaved  the  "  Everlasting  Hills," 
Alps,  Andes,  or  Himalayas,  are  employed  in  the  creation 
and  perpetuation  of  groat  nations. 

Since  the  times  of  the  old  Hebrew  prophets  a  tree 
has  been  the  standing  emblem  of  a  political  power;  yet 
it  requires  influences  other  than  those  which  nourish 
the  pine  and  the  palm,  the  cypress  and  the  cedar,  to 
produce  an  enlightened  and  free  Commonwealth.  There 
is  no  greater  fallacy  than  that  which  imposes  upon  the 
mind  with  ingenious  analogies  between  that  ethical 
organism  called  a  nation  and  the  perishable  physical 
organisms  of  the  animal  or  vegetable  kingdom.  These 
are  aggregations  of  material  particles  united  by  physical 
laws.  They  must  perish  eventually  by  the  very  law  of 
their  existence ;  but  a  nation  is  composed  of  moral  en- 
tities, united  by  moral  laws,  has  all  the  elements  of  a 
perpetual  life,  and  may  continue  as  long  as  the  sun  and 
the  moon  shall  endure.     It  is  possible,  not  in  the  indi- 


268  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

vidual,  but  in  the  nation,  to  realize  the  dream  of  per 
petual  youth.  "  The  State  has  no  soul "  is  the  dictum 
of  an  atheistic  political  theory.  On  the  contrary,  we 
say.  with  the  famous  French  priest,  Pere  Hyacinthe, 
"  What  I  admire  most  in  the  State  is  its  soul."  Moral 
principles  are  the  soul  of  a  nation ;  these  are  the  in- 
forming spirit  that  mould  its  various  elements  into  a 
compact  unity,  and  that  bind  them  together  with  bands 
stronger  than  steel.  Eradicate  or  weaken  these,  and 
the  elements  of  decay  at  once  seize  upon  it,  and  the 
vultures  of  ruin  hasten  to  batten  upon  the  carcass. 

Truth,  justice,  honesty,  virtue,  patriotism,  love  of  man, 
and  fear  of  God,  are  the  forces  that  constitute  and  pre- 
serve a  great  nation :  these  are  the  pillars  of  the  repub- 
lic. These  are  the  towers  and  the  bulwarks  of  the 
State.  "While  these  remain,  no  weapon  formed  against 
her  shall  prosper,  and  she  will  condemn  any  tongue  that 
rises  in  judgment  against  her.  In  these  is  the  hiding 
of  her  power :  by  the  possession  or  lack  of  these  is  a 
nation  characterized  and  its  work  determined. 

That  physical  causes  operate  to  a  greater  or  less 
degree  in  moulding  national  character,  few  would  care 
to  dispute.  All  the  great  epochs  of  history,  however, 
testify  that  while  they  may  affect,  they  cannot  determine, 
either  the  character  or  the  course  of  nations.  How 
often  have  nations,  by  the  operation  of  some  moral  or 
spiritual  power,  been  born  as  in  a  day ;  the  whole  cur- 
rent of  their  national  life  been  changed;  breathed  upon, 
as  in  the  vision  of  Ezekiel,  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Almighty, 
and  started  with  the  speed  of  the  racer  on  a  new  career 
toward  a  new  goal.  Notably  is  this  illustrated  in  that 
great  birth  epoch,   the   Reformation   of  the    sixteenth 


MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATION.  269 

century.  Europe  was  in  darkness.  "  God  said.  Let 
Luther  be,  and  there  was  light."  The  changes  were  so 
stupendous,  and  yet  so  sudden,  that  the  historian  can 
find  no  simile  so  appropriate  as  that  by  which  Christ 
describes  his  second  advent :  "  As  the  lightning  cometh 
out  of  the  east,  and  shineth  even  to  the  west,  so  shall 
the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be."  The  physical  con- 
ditions remained  the  same ;  but  new  moral  and  spiritual 
influences  were  working  with  a  wider  sweep,  with  a 
more  intense  activity,  and  with  a  grander  power. 

"Wherever  the  new  life  came,  there  was  the  same  sud- 
den awakening,  the  same  marvellous  transformations, 
the  same  display  of  resistless  energies  and  unconquer- 
able heroism.  Holland  witnessed  on  her  fertile  dike- 
defended  plains  as  splendid  examples  of  self-sacrifice,  as 
stern  a  struggle  for  civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  Swit- 
zerland in  her  Alpine  fastnesses,  or  Scotland  on  her 
wild  moorland  wastes,  or  amid  the  deep  recesses  of  her 
heath-clad  hills.  Infidel  communism  —  and  communism 
is  the  logical  consequent  of  all  theories  of  government 
.which  do  not  hold  the  State  to  be  of  divine  origin  — 
can  create  a  mob  frantic  as  the  victim  of  delirium  in  its 
struggles  against  lawful  authority ;  but  Christian  moral- 
ity alone  can  create  and  preserve  a  great,  free,  and  en- 
lightened nation.  Could  any  madness  be  greater  than 
that  of  the  men  who  shriek  like  howling  dervishes 
against  any  national  acknowledgment  of  God,  ere  yet 
the  glow  of  burning  Paris  has  passed  from  yonder 
heavens'?  Americans,  look  across  the  sea,  and  behold 
in  France  the  results  of  theories  that  exclude  God  from 
the  government  of  nations,  and  refuse  obedience  to 
his   law.     We  quote   the  words   of  a  great  master  of 


270  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

language  :  "  "We  must  needs  have  the  brush  that  painted 
the  Apocalypse  to  portray  those  scenes  which  recall  the 
destruction  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon.  Reason  is  stag- 
gered before  them.  They  are  in  history  what  those 
primeval  convulsions  of  the  earth  were  in  nature.  We 
now  know  what  socialism  may  give  birth  to.  In  its 
train  may  be  seen  the  giants  of  modern  chaos  heaping 
one  upon  another  burning  ruins.  At  one  moment  Paris, 
under  the  burning  canopy  which  covered  it,  threatened 
with  new  crimes  and  new  terrors,  the  screeching  shells 
tearing  through  its  roofs,  seemed  like  a  city  under  a 
curse.  After  these  fearful  nights  came  days  still  more 
terrible,  when,  in  our  streets,  strewn  with  the  dead,  and 
traversed  by  thousands  of  prisoners,  another  fire  was 
lighted  in  the  hearts  of  men,  —  that  of  fear,  kindled 
with  fury ;  when  the  dregs  of  the  human  heart  were 
stirred  up ;  when  cowardice,  united  to  cruelty,  and  not 
satisfied  with  implacable  justice,  called  for  summary 
vengeance.  This  was  an  hour  when  all  the  birds  of  evil 
omen  cursed  the  very  name  of  liberty ;  but  it  was  also 
that  solemn,  decisive  hour  when  a  nation,  face  to  face 
with  the  evils  that  are  devouring  it,  should  question 
itself,  examine  its  own  conscience,  and  fix  the  responsi- 
bility of  a  catastrophe  which  involves  not  alone  its  direct 
abettors.  The  ancient  sibyl,  to  whom  Rome  shut  her 
ears,  comes  to  us  in  the  form  of  this  great  calamity. 
She  gives  us  warning :  it  is,  perhaps,  the  last  page  m 
the  volume  of  wisdom  ;  but  it  is  the  page  that  I  would 
read  to  my  country,  in  order  that  modern  Democracy 
may  learn  therefrom  the  lesson  which  the  events  of 
these  days  should  cultivate." 

So  writes   Edmond  de   Pressense,  a  true    friend   of 


MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATION.  271 

enlightened  liberty,  of  scenes  of  horror  which  passed 
before  his  own  eyes ;  who  could  say  of  them,  if  not 
quorum  pars  magna  fui,  at  least  qua?  ipse  misserrima  vidi. 
Let  us  remember  that  a  brilliant  devotee  of  the  Com- 
mune in  our  own  country  has  said  of  Henry  Delacluse, 
one  of  the  high  priests  who  prepared  this  terrible  holo- 
caust, that  he  was  a  man  after  his  own  heart ;  and  that 
that  branch  of  the  Internationals  that  followed  Wood- 
hull  through  the  streets  of  New  York  a  few  sabbaths 
ago,  recalling  the  ancient  myth  of  Circe  and  her  swine, 
was  organized  by  one  of  the  chief  actors  in  these  scenes 
of  blood,  who,  not  satisfied  with  banishing  God  from 
the  earth,  said,  if  he  were  to  go  to  heaven  and  find  him 
there,  he  would  immediately  throw  up  barricades. 

The  Oriental  nations  are  often  pointed  to  as  examples 
of  stable  government.  The  facts  do  not  accord  to  the 
theory ;  but  their  repose,  such  as  it  is,  is  the  repose  of 
death,  the  calm  of  the  Dead  Sea,  the  quietness  of  the 
extinct  volcano.  There  are  no  States,  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  term,  in  Oriental  countries.  They  have  no  prog- 
ress, and,  consequently,  no  real  national  life.  They  do 
not  advance,  and  play  no  part  in  the  world's  history. 
India,  China,  Japan  —  what  are  they'?  Hordes,  multi- 
tudes, masses,  but  not  nations  ;  nor  can  they  be  in  their 
present  moral  degradation.  Persia  is  a  country  peopled 
by  a  few  millions,  more  or  less,  of  human  beings :  all 
the  physical  conditions  favorable  for  a  great  nation 
are  there,  but  the  moral  are  all  wanting.  There  are 
Persian  people,  but  no  Persian  nation  ;  none  possible, 
because,  as  one  who  knows  them  well  recently  said, 
"  There  is  not  a  single  man  in  Persia  that  is  not  an 
arrant  liar,  nor  a  single  woman  that  has  any  correct  idea 


272  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

of  true  virtue."  A  few  European  adventurers  con- 
quered India ;  two  hundred  British  soldiers  quelled  a 
rising  war  of  ten  millions ;  and  in  the  great  rebellion 
of  a  few  years  since,  thirty-six  thousand  Europeans,  all 
told,  —  soldiers  and  civilians,  men  and  women,  — 
crushed,  in  an  incredibly  short  period,  the  rising  revolt 
of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions. 

"Why  is  France  to-day  like  a  ship  driven  of  the  wind 
and  tossed  ?  Or,  to  come  nearer  home,  what  is  the 
character  of  the  masses  on  whose  shoulders  the  Tam- 
many robbers  were  borne  to  power?  Who  does  not 
see  that  our  country  would  go  down  at  once  in  a  sea  of 
fire,  mingled  with  blood,  if  the  moral  character  of  the 
New- York  voters  was  spread  all  over  the  land1?  But 
what  is  the  State?  Not  a  mass  of  men,  nor  an  organi- 
zation of  men,  but  an  organization  composed  of  moral 
beings,  subsisting  in  moral  relations;  a  tree,  but  a  tree 
whose  particles  are  moral  entities,  and  which  must  par- 
take of  the  life  and  character  of  the  substance  of  which 
it  is  composed;  a  tree  like  the  fabled  Igdrasil  of  the 
North,  "  every  leaf  a  biography,  every  fibre  an  act  or 
a  word,  the  rustle  of  it  the  noise  of  human  existence 
onward  from  of  old.  It  grows  there,  the  breath  of 
human  passion  rustling  through  it.  Its  true  figure  is 
that  of  a  colossal  man ;  his  consciousness  the  resultant 
of  the  consciousness  of  the  millions  that  compose  this 
gigantic  entity,  this  body  corporate ;  his  power  their 
power;  his  will  their  will ;  his  purpose  their  purpose; 
his  goal  the  end  to  which  they  are  moving,  —  a  being 
created  in  the  sphere  of  moral  law,  and  therefore  both 
moral  and  accountable."  "  A  nation,"  says  Milton, 
"  ought  to  be  but  as  one  huge  Christian  personage,  one 


MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATION.  273 

mighty  growth  or  stature  of  an  honest  man,  as  big  and 
compact  in  virtue  as  in  body." 

What  is  government  but  a  system  of  laws  ?  But  what 
is  law?  To  be  binding,  law  must  be  founded  in  justice; 
but  what  is  justice  ?  An  attribute  of  God,  and  having 
relation  in  this  sense  only  to  moral  beings.  "  Law  hath 
its  seat  in  the  bosom  of  God,  and  its  voice  is  the  har- 
mony of  the  world,"  —  a  saying  too  sublime  ever  to 
become  trite.  Freedom  regulated  by  law  is  the  path 
along  which  the  nation  moves,  and  the  goal  which  it 
seeks  to  attain;  freedom  removed  from  the  lawless 
licentiousness  that  is  the  worst  of  despotisms,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  from  that  despotic  authority  which  results, 
ultimately,  in  anarchy,  upon  the  other.  But,  although 
law  comes  from  God,  it  gets  its  practical  expression, 
and  exerts  its  real  power,  only  through  the  will  of  the 
political  organism  of  the  State.  And  in  this  sense  it  is 
well  described :  — 

"Sovereign  law,  the  State's  collected  will, 
O'er  thrones  and  globes  elate, 
Sits  empress,  crowning  good,  repressing  ill." 

Every  government,  by  equitable  laws,  is  a  govern- 
ment of  God:  a  republic  thus  governed  is  of  him, 
through  the  people,  and  is  as  truly  and  really  a  theoc- 
racy as  the  commonwealth  of  Israel.  The  refusal  to 
acknowledge  this  fact  is  as  much  a  piece  of  foolish 
impiety,  as  that  of  the  man  who  persists  in  refusing  to 
acknowledge  that  God  is  the  Author  of  his  existence. 
When  good  and  wholesome  laws  become  inoperative, 
or  evil  ones  are  enacted,  a  blow  is  struck  at  the  very 
life  of  the  State :  its  vital  constitution  is  attacked  in  the 


274  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

very  citadel  of  life,  and  its  strength  weakened.  A 
strong  government  is  one  in  which  the  moral  power 
among  the  citizens  is  strong ;  that  is,  where  there  is 
a  conviction  of  the  majesty  and  moral  obligations  of  jnst 
and  wholesome  laws  —  such  laws  as  immoral  legislators 
will  never  enact,  and  as  an  immoral  people  will  not 
obey.  The  State  is  the  law-enacting  power ;  but  can 
any  conception  be  more  preposterous  than  that  of  a 
power  enacting  laws  which  must  themselves  rest  on 
moral  principles,  or,  rather,  be  the  form  or  expression 
of  moral  principles,  while  the  power  is  itself  destitute 
of  all  moral  character  ?  It  is  singular  that  any  man 
who  has  once  arrived  at  the  true  conception  of  law,  as 
an  expression  not  of  human  will,  but  of  the  Divine  Jus- 
tice, should  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  indorse  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  this  reform.  I  believe  it  is  one  of 
the  fundamental  principles  laid  down  by  Blackstone, 
that  no  law  which  controverts  the  law  of  God  is  binding. 
But,  still  further,  the  moral  character  of  a  nation  is 
seen  in  the  legitimate  functions  of  government.  "  Gov- 
ernment is  for  the  protection  of  property,"  is  a  favorite 
expression  of  a  certain  school.  Certainly  true,  although 
in  their  mouths  the  greatest  of  falsehoods,  because  put 
forward  as  the  whole  truth ;  for,  as  Tennyson  says,  — 

"  A  lie  which  is  half  a  truth  is  ever  the  blackest  of  lies." 

I  remember  that  I  was  startled  with  this  declaration 
of  an  eminent  publicist :  "  Man  holds  communion  with 
God  in  property."  Yet  it  is  a  great  truth.  The  earth  is 
the  Lord's,  for  he  made  it.  The  gold  and  the  silver  are 
his.  ;md  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills.  The  right 
of   property  is,   therefore,  Divine ;    and   only  a   State 


MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATION.  275 

recognizing  its  own  divine  character  and  origin  can  law- 
fully regulate  its  acquisition  and  tenure.  Even  on  the 
lowest  view  which  can  be  taken  of  government,  moral 
character  is  essential  to  its  administration.  Where  the 
rights  of  property  are  most  carefully  guarded,  and  each 
individual  secured  in  the  fruits  of  his  own  industry, 
there  wealth  flows  as  the  rivers  to  the  sea.  Hence  the 
utter  folly,  to  say  nothing  of  the  wickedness,  of  all  com- 
munistic theories  which  propose  the  annihilation  of  the 
rights  of  property.  Let  this  nation  begin  seriously  to 
entertain  such  theories,  and  her  wealth  will  vanish  as 
surely,  and  little  less  rapidly,  than  those  of  our  sister 
city  in  the  melting  fires  of  her  awful  conflagration. 
These  theorists  connect  with  the  protection  of  property, 
also  that  of  the  person.  What  a  field  demanding  care- 
ful study  and  application  of  moral  principles  opens 
before  us  in  this  function  of  government !  What  a 
range  of  punishments,  from  the  petty  fine  to  the  awful 
death-penalty  upon  the  gallows !  Each  day  I  pass  the 
frowning  walls  of  a  gloomy  prison,  in  which  some  hun- 
dreds of  human  beings  are  confined,  some  of  them  for 
the  term  of  their  natural  life,  on  behalf  of  the  safety  of 
society,  that  they  may  not  endanger  the  rights  of  prop- 
erty, or  the  life  or  limb  of  their  fellow-men ;  and  yet  we 
are  told  that  the  power  which  thus  isolates  these  per- 
sons, cuts  them  off  from  all  that  makes  life  desirable, 
even  endurable,  and  consigns  them  to  separation  and 
solitude,  no  more  to  bless  or  be  blessed  by  the  influences 
of  society,  derives  its  power  from  the  people,  is  ac- 
countable only  to  them,  has  no  soul,  has  no  moral  char- 
acter, and  is  responsible  to  no  higher  tribunal  than  the 
majority  of  citizens.     If  the  theory  claimed  to  be  thus 


276  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

embodied  in  the  present  preamble  of  onr  Constitution 
in  the  words,  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  do 
ordain  this  Constitution,"  is  true,  then  has  society  no 
right  to  put  the  murderer  to  death,  no  right  to  punish 
crime  as  such,  and,  indeed,  is  ultimately  without  right 
to  protect  itself  against  ignorance,  intemperance,  or  any 
other  evil  which  threatens  its  destruction. 

Again,  let  us  consider  the  subject  of  education  — 
what  a  field  for  the  exercise  of  moral  influence !  Why 
must  the  State  educate  X  Not  alone  that  men  may  be 
wiser,  but  that  they  may  be  better  ;  that  the  feelings  of 
moral  obligation  may  be  widened  and  deepened,  and 
thereby  the  citizens  be  fitted  to  render  that  conscien- 
tious obedience  to  the  State  without  which  all  laws  are 
inoperative.  No  system  of  education  divested  of  a 
moral  character  is  conceivable.  If  we  teach  our  chil- 
dren simply  to  read,  we  must  teach  them  in  the  writings 
either  of  the  good  or  the  bad,  of  the  moral  or  the  im- 
moral—  indeed,  you  cannot  teach  them  even  the  mean- 
ing of  the  words  moral  and  immoral  without  adopting 
some  system  of  morality.  Here  is  a  mighty  question  on 
which  we  cannot  enter,  but  which,  started  in  this  city, 
must  be  discussed  until  a  final  settlement  is  reached. 
God  grant  that  its  final  settlement  may  be  such  as  to 
increase  the  moral  power  of  the  nation,  and  not  so  tend 
to  weaken  those  elements  which  are  even  already  all  too 
feeble  in  our  national  life.  Permit  me  here  to  say  that 
in  this  question  of  the  Bible  in  the  schools,  it  is  not  the 
infatuated  men  whom  we  call  infidels  and  llomanists, 
that  are  the  most  dangerous,  but  the  enemies  within  the 
camp,  the  men  who  profess  to  believe  the  Scriptures,  and 
who  yet  unite  with  their  foes  in  the  attempt  to  displace 


MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  XATIOX.  277 

them  from  our  system  of  national  education.  For  the 
former  I  feel  a  measure  of  pity ;  for  the  latter,  contempt 
for  their  folly,  and  all  the  loathing  of  which  I  am  capa- 
ble for  their  sycophancy,  cowardice,  and  inconsistency. 
The  lawyer  who  stands  forth  the  legal  champion  of  the 
robberies  of  a  Fisk  or  a  Tammany  ring  is  angel  white 
in  my  estimation  compared  with  him  who,  professing 
the  faith  of  Christ,  lends  himself  to  an  attempt  to  drive 
the  Scriptures  from  the  schools.  The  one  strikes  a  blow 
which  may  be  parried  and  weakened  by  a  thousand 
influences :  the  other  aims  at  the  heart. 

A  still  more  practical  view  of  this  subject  is  taken 
when  we   consider  the  moral  obligations   of   a  nation 
as   such :    like   an  individual,   it   is  held  bound  in  the 
judgment  of  mankind  to  the  fulfilment  of  its  obliga 
tions. 

Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy  owe  enormous  debts. 
The  same  is  true  of  our  own  country.  Shall  the  obliga- 
tions of  these  debts  be  met  ?  May  the  nation  repudiate  ? 
If  not,  why  not  \  If  a  nation  has  no  moral  character, 
and  is  accountable  to  no  higher  tribunal,  if  law  is  the 
determination  of  a  mass  of  men,  what  is  to  prevent  it 
from  taking  the  shortest  road  to  a  release  from  these 
obligations  ?  Or  does  the  law,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal," 
bind  a  nation  as  well  as  an  individual  ?  Are  there  not 
such  things  as  noble  nations,  magnanimous  nations, 
mean  nations,  and  arrogant  nations  ?  Do  we  not  apply 
to  nations  the  same  adjectives  expressing  moral  quali- 
ties which  we  apply  to  men?  Has  not  Great  Britain 
a  national  character  as  well  defined  in  the  minds  of  men 
as  her  Queen  or  Prime  Minister  —  a  character  into 
which   her  physical    character    and    resources    scarcely 


278  XATIOXAL  REFORM. 

enter,  but  which  is  determined  by  moral  qualities  ?  Is 
not  the  United  States  a  personality  as  distinct  in  the 
eyes  of  men  as  Gen.  Grant  or  Mr.  Colfax? 

The  Conference  of  Geneva  is  to  decide  a  question  of 
difficulty  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States, 
not  between  the  people  of  the  two  countries  as  such,  but 
between  them  as  moral  persons.  It  is  Mr.  John  Bull 
against  Mr.  Brother  Jonathan,  the  American  eagle  and 
the  British  lion  who  are  at  variance,  two  moral  persons 
who  are  seeking  the  moral  decision  of  a  moral  question. 
What  law  is  to  rule  in  this  arbitrament,  and  whence 
come  the  principles  by  which  the  tribunal  which  is  to 
make  the  decision  is  to  be  guided?  This  opens  up  the 
great  question  of  international  law,  which,  like  all  laws, 
can  bind  only  moral  entities,  and  must  itself  rest  on 
moral  grounds.  Wheaton  says,  "  Every  State  has  cer- 
tain sovereign  rights  to  which  it  is  entitled  as  a  moral 
being ;  in  other  words,  because  it  is  a  State." 

When  two  States,  two  colossal  men,  who  strike  with 
the  force  of  a  million  armed  soldiers,  meet  face  to  face 
in  the  bloody  duel  of  war,  is  there  no  law  to  control 
them  but  that  of  brute  force,  the  will  of  the  stronger  ? 
Is  there  no  question  of  right  or  justice  between  these 
two  giants?  Are  right  and  justice  necessarily  on  the 
side  of  the  strongest  battalions,  and,  when  one  falls  be- 
neath the  superior  strength  of  his  antagonist,  is  there 
no  further  account  ?  Is  there  no  ultimate  tribunal  ?  Is 
there  no  possibility  of  a  wrong  which  the  avenging 
Xcmesis  may  requite,  on  a  nation  as  on  an  individual? 
Then  is  human  nature  a  lie,  then  history  was  never 
written,  then  morality  is  a  dream,  and  the  throne  of 
divine  justice  is  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision  that  melts 


MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATION.  279 

away  more  suddenly  than  the  morning  clouds  that  gather 
about  the  rising  of  the  sun. 

With  that  oldest  of  divine  institutions,  the  family,  the 
parent  both  of  Church  and  nation,  the  State  must,  does 
interfere,  that  lawless  lust  may  not  return  from  the 
bestial  herds  to  bring  back  the  reign  of  barbarism. 
Prior  in  origin,  it  is  yet  subordinate  in  order,  and  must 
be  regulated  by  the  supreme  authority.  The  State  es- 
tablishes monogamy,  the  marriage  of  one  man  and  one 
woman,  as  the  form  of  the  institution  essential  to  its 
own  existence  and  welfare,  determines  the  age  at  which 
it  may  be  entered,  and  requires  its  consent  and  seal  to 
the  contract  before  admitting  its  validity.  Laws  inflict- 
ing penalties  for  violations  of  the  marriage  covenant  are 
enacted  by  all  Christian  States :  failure  to  execute  such 
laws  indicates  the  decay  of  moral  sentiments  in  the  com- 
munity, and  is  the  certain  sign  of  the  approaching  deca- 
dence of  the  nation.  The  State  determines  what  shall 
be  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  family,  at  what 
period  its  claims  on  the  members  of  the  family  begin, 
when  the  child  may  assert  its  freedom  from  the  family 
restraints,  and  acknowledge  no  authority  but  that  of 
the  State  itself.  It  regulates  the  inheritance,  assumes  the 
guardianship  of  minors,  on  the  death  of  one  or  both  of 
the  parents  —  becomes  itself  the  parent  in  the  absence 
or  failure  of  parents  to  fulfil  their  obligations.  It  is  not 
only  as  violations  of  the  purity  of  the  human  heart,  as 
destructive  of  all  the  happiness  of  which  the  family  is 
the  source,  but  as  direct  attacks  upon  the  State  as  de- 
pendent upon  the  family,  that  we  are  bound  to  oppose 
all  theories  that  interfere  with  the  sanctity  of  the  family, 
and  to  restrain  by  the  severest  penalties  of  the  law  any 


280  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

attempt  to  carry  them  out  into  overt  act,  either  by  the 
advocates  of  polygamy,  or  the  still  baser  advocates  of 
free  love.  I  say  baser.  Polygamy  is  heathenish :  free 
love  is  simply  brutal. 

But  does  the  State  touch  upon  the  sphere  of  religion'? 
This  also  falls  to  be  discussed  by  another  during  the 
sittings  of  this  convention.  Shall  we  have  the  Bible  in 
the  schools?  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  Ohio 
must  now  decide,  and  perhaps  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  ultimately.  Shall  we  have  a  quiet 
sabbath  in  which  to  worship  God,  free  from  the  rush, 
tumult,  and  confusion  of  business?  This  has  been 
decided  in  the  negative.  Sabbath  business  and  sabbath 
processions  have  carried  the  day  thus  far  over  the 
Christian  sentiment  of  the  community,  over  the  rights 
of  worship.  Step  by  step  the  enemy  gains ;  and  the 
Christian  sentiment  is  overbalanced  by  a  contemptible 
minority  of  the  people,  because,  in  an  unfortunate  hour, 
they  accepted  a  Constitution  which  has  no  clause  recog- 
nizing the  great  moral  power  which  has  made  and 
preserves  the  nation.  The  State  composed  of  Christian 
men,  the  State  in  which  Christianity  is  the  controlling 
power,  the  State  which  would  crumble  to  atoms  in  a 
moment  if  this  influence  were  withdrawn,  must  urge  its 
chums  in  a  thousand  points,  and  might  as  well  attempt 
to  escape  from  the  blue  canopy  above  us,  as  from  the 
questions  which  its  presence  necessarily  requires. 

This  is  but  an  imperfect  outline  of  the  character  and 
some  of  the  functions  of  the  power  which  we  call  a 
nation,  but  sufficient  to  show  that  it  is  a  moral  person- 
ality, created  in  the  moral  sphere  of  God's  government, 
and  controlling  by  its  continual  presence  and  power  the 


MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATION".  281 

destiny  of  the  millions  of  which  it  is  composed,  and 
whose  interests  are  committed  to  its  guardianship.  If 
this  being  has  no  moral  character,  then  the  word  has 
no  significance :  man  walks  in  a  vain  show,  his  loftiest 
aspirations  are  the  dream  of  a  vagrant  imagination,  his 
spirit  is  that  of  the  brute  that  goeth  downward,  and  he 
may  as  well  conclude  that  his  moral  convictions  are, 
perhaps,  deeper,  but  as  vain,  as  the  religion  of  Mr. 
Darwin's  dog  barking  on  a  summer  day  at  a  parasol 
shaken  by  the  wind  on  the  lawn.  Our  appeal,  however, 
is  not  to  the  devotees  of  a  degrading  philosophy,  but  to 
the  Christian  people  of  the  United  States,  who  believe 
in  God,  in  Christianity,  and  in  the  Bible.  By  all  such, 
if  they  are  consistent  with  themselves,  the  fundamental 
principles  of  this  reform  must  be  accepted :  the  arrange- 
ments of  details  and  expressions  may  be  safely  left  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  future. 

But  to  whom  is  the  nation  accountable  \  To  its  own 
citizens]  But  they  are  the  State.  To  other  nations? 
Only  in  its  relations  to  them ;  and  just  as  each  individual 
person  has  the  right  to  pursue  the  end  of  his  own  being, 
without  giving  account  to  his  fellow-men  individually  or 
collectively,  so  the  nation  has  a  right  to  pursue  its  own 
independent  path,  accountable  not  to  one  nor  to  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  for  its  conduct,  unless  it  so  endanger 
the  common  welfare  of  mankind  as  to  require  its  sup- 
pression. The  nation  is  accountable  to  God  alone. 
Before  his  bar  it  ever  stands,  is  continually  undergoing 
its  judgments,  and  receiving  its  sentence,  and  lives  or 
dies  according  to  its  deeds.  A  great  scholar  of  our  age 
asserts  that  no  nation  has  ever  existed  in  one  form  for  a 
thousand  years.     Neither  Assyria,  Babylon,  nor  Home, 


282 


NATIONAL  REFORM. 


could  boast  of  a  millennium.  Why  have  they  perished  ? 
Not  because  of  any  law  that  determines  the  rise,  prog- 
ress, decline,  and  extinction  of  nations  ;  nor  because  the 
world's  history  moves  in  irresistible  cycles,  to  which  all 
greatness  must  submit ;  nor  because  society  is  an  abyss 
throwing  up  from  its  depths  endless  transformations  to 


be    again   ingulfed,  a   monster. 


Saturn-like,  devouring 


her  own  children.  They  have  fallen  under  the  just 
judgment  of  Heaven  because  of  the  violation  of 
Heaven's  laws:  they  have  fallen  because  they  have  re- 
fused to  learn  Nebuchadnezzar's  lesson,  that  "  the  Most 
High  God  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  that  he 
giveth  it  to  whomsoever  he  will."  Many  a  Sarmatia  has 
fallen  unwept,  but  no  one  without  a  crime.  We  have 
but  to  give  loose  rein  to  the  powers  of  evil  that  do 
already  work  in  our  own  country  with  fiendish  energy 
and  Satanic  aspect,  and  the  result  is  soon  accomplished. 
"  All  national  greatness,"  says  Neander,  "  depends  on 
the  tone  of  public  feeling,  and  this,  again,  on  the  power 
of  religion  in  the  life  of  the  people."  And  again,  "The 
times  in  which  unbelief  has  prevailed  are,  as  history 
teaches,  uniformly  times  of  earthly  calamity ;  for  the 
moral  depravation  which  accompanies  unbelief  neces- 
sarily destroys  also  the  foundation  of  all  earthly 
prosperity." 

The  nation  is  of  God,  is  a  creature  of  moral  law,  and 
a  subject  of  the  divine  government :  change  the  names, 
and  the  burden  of  Tyre,  of  Edom,  and  of  Aramon,  may 
be  written  of  any  nation  that  follows  in  the  same  path 
of  wickedness  ;  phenomena  are  transient,  but  principles 
are  eternal.  "  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but 
my  word  shall  not  pass  away."     "  For  three  transgres- 


MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATION.  283 

sions  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment 
thereof."  "  Fire,  famine,  and  slaughter  "  are  the  aven- 
ging fires  that  follow  in  the  pathway  of  national  atheism, 
political  corruption,  and  crime.  The  curse  does  not 
come  causeless.  Who  are  punished,  being  innocent? 
and  where  were  the  righteous  cut  off? 

We  have  crushed  out  the  head  of  the  hydra  that  once 
threatened  our  national  existence.  There  is  the  same 
irrepressible  conflict  between  the  theory  of  government 
which  we  advocate,  and  that  of  the  various  foes  that 
now  threaten  the  nation's  life. 

The  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  they 
are  mighty,  through  God,  to  the  pulling  down  of  the 
strongholds  of  sin  and  Satan.  We  do  not  forget,  how- 
ever, that  Christ  has  said  that  he  came  not  to  send 
peace  on  earth,  but  a  sword.  A  nation,  like  an  indi- 
vidual, reaches  its  goal  through  conflict,  through  agonies 
of  war  and  strife.  If  she  is  to  come  forth  triumphant, 
her  garments  will  be  red  as  are  those  treading  in  the 
wine-press. 

We  follow  the  Master.  The  banner  of  the  Captain 
of  our  salvation  is  before  us.  The  leader  of  this  army 
hath  upon  his  vesture  and  upon  his  thigh  a  name 
written,  "  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords  ; "  and  we 
know  that  the  final  issue  cannot  be  doubtful.  lie  is 
called  Faithful  and  True,  and  in  righteousness  he 
doth  judge  and  make  war.  Though  his  vesture  be 
dipped  in  blood,  he  goeth  forth  conquering  and  to  con- 
quer. The  armies  that  are  in  heaven  follow  him.  He 
will  overturn,  overturn,  and  overturn  until  his  power  is 
established,  and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  become  the 
kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  his  Christ. 


284  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  believe  we  have  held  no  convention 
on  this  subject  without  hearing  the  roaring  of  some  wild 
beast,  threatening  blood,  Well,  sir,  we  are  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  Prince  of  peace.  We  propose  to  carry 
forward  this  discussion  in  the  arena  of  fair  argument. 
But,  sir,  we  have  heard  such  threats  before,  and  we 
have  seen  them  put  in  execution ;  and  the  result  is 
before  the  world. 

We  follow  peace,  but  those  who  make  these  threats 
may  as  well  know  that  they  cannot  intimidate  or  drive 
us  from  our  firm  purpose.  If  they  attempt  to  carry 
them  into  execution,  they  will  be  met  by  a  resolution 
as  determined  as  their  own,  and  by  a  heroism  that  no 
system  of  unbelief  ever  inspired. 

We  are  the  sons  of  sires,  who,  in  the  face  of  a  great 
moral  conflict,  could  sing,  — 

"  Father  in  heaven,  we  turn  not  back, 

Though  briers  and  thorns  choke  up  our  path ; 
Better  the  torture  and  the  rack 

Than  meet  the  whirlwind  of  thy  wrath. 
Let  tempests  rage,  let  torrents  pour, 

Let  whirlwinds  churn  the  ragiug  sea : 
What  is  the  turmoil  of  an  hour 

To  an  eternal  calm  with  thee?  " 


CHRISTIAN   LEGISLATION.1 


The  object  which  has  assembled  this  Convention  is 
one  whose  importance  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  ex- 
aggerate. The  open,  distinct,  and  avowed  purpose  of 
the  "  National  Reform  Association "  is  to  secure  such 
an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
as  shall  furnish  a  legal  basis  for  legislation  upon  those 
elements  of  our  national  life  that  are  specifically  Chris- 
tian, —  such,  for  example,  as  Christian  marriage ;  the 
sabbath  as  a  day  of  rest  for  the  laboring  man,  and  of 
peaceful  worship  for  the  religious  man ;  the  Bible  in 
the  schools  ;  the  judicial  oath  in  our  courts  of  justice ; 
chaplains  in  our  army,  navy,  and  public  institutions 
under  the  control  of  Government;  special  days  of  fasting 
and  thanksgiving,  etc. 

That  a  free  people  should  be  somewhat  sensitive 
respecting  changes  in  their  Constitution  is  at  once  natu- 
ral and  proper.  The  Constitution  represents  stable  gov- 
ernment, and  stable  government  is  essential  to  national 
prosperity  and  progress.  It  is  not  desirable  that  frequent 
changes  should  be  made  in  the  National  Charter.  Nev- 
ertheless, the  Constitution  of  a  free  government  not 
only  may,  but  must,  from  time  to  time,  be  altered  and 
amended    according    to    the    varying    and    progressive 

»  New  York,  Feb.  27,  1S73. 

285 


286  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

changes  of  the  national  life :  otherwise  it  will  prove  a 
barrier  to  national  progress,  and  eventually  provoke 
resistance  and  revolution.  Plant  an  oak  in  a  vase,  and 
either  the  vase  will  kill  the  oak,  or  the  oak  will  burst 
the  vase.  The  garments  of  the  boy  of  fifteen  will  not 
do  for  the  muscular,  developed  man  of  twenty-five.  The 
Constitution,  framed  for  the  thirteen  colonies  before 
the  steamship,  the  locomotive,  or  the  telegraph  had 
appeared,  will  not  meet  the  requirements  of  our  nation 
to-day,  into  which  so  many  new  forces,  both  moral  and 
physical,  have  entered.  The  only  appropriate  question 
which  can  be  asked,  is  as  to  the  importance,  necessity, 
and  practicability  of  the  proposed  amendment.  If  it  meet 
some  great,  felt  and  conscious  necessity  of  the  nation, 
if  it  be  clearly  foreseen  that  its  adoption  will  be  produc- 
tive of  beneficent  results,  then  it  is  at  once  the  dictate, 
both  of  reason  and  of  statesmanship,  that  it  be  accepted. 
That  such  an  emergency  has  arisen  is  the  profound  con- 
viction of  many  of  the  most  thoughtful  minds  of  the 
country.  Our  fathers  designed  to  found  here  a  great, 
free,  and  Christian  republic.  We  have  made  it  free 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf;  and 
we  are  now  resolved,  with  the  divine  assistance,  to 
secure  its  Christian  features  against  all  the  disorganizing 
forces  which  assail  them,  and  give  them  the  guaranty 
of  a  specific  declaration  in  the  National  Constitution. 
There  is  no  one  element  of  the  national  life  distinctively 
Christian  which  is  not  assailed,  nor  one  which  is  not 
called  in  question,  and  the  right  and  reason  of  its  exist- 
ence under  the  Constitution  denied.  These  assaults, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  alarming  corruption  in 
political    life,    have    created   a   deep    and    wide-spread 


CHRISTIAN  LEGISLATION.  287 

concern  for  the  stability  of  our  government.  The  right 
to  read  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools  is  appealed  to 
the  higher  courts  in  the  State  of  Ohio.  The  same  right 
is  denied  to  the  schools  of  New  York  by  the  decision  of 
the  State  superintendent.  Sabbath  laws  are  either 
abrogated  or  rapidly  becoming  a  dead  letter  on  the 
statute-book.  The  abrogation  of  the  judicial  oath  in 
our  courts  of  justice  is  loudly  urged,  and  all  this  pressed 
on  the  ground  of  constitutional  right.  The  conflict  is 
upon  us  :  the  issue  is  made.  The  necessity  for  making 
constitutional  provision  against  infidel  demands  is  as 
urgent  as  it  was  a  few  years  ago  for  making  such  pro- 
vision against  slavery.  The  view  which  we  urge  upon 
this  subject  is  no  new  thing.  Five  years  after  the  adop- 
tion of  the  present  Constitution,  Rev.  Dr.  John  Mason 
of  this  city  —  perhaps  the  greatest  pulpit  orator  of 
America,  the  intimate  friend  and  eulogist  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  according  to  the  statement  of  his  son  to  the 
present  speaker,  the  most  prominent  of  the  framers  of 
the  Constitution  —  used  these  words  :  "  Should  the  citi- 
zens of  America  be  as  irreligious  as  her  Constitution,  we 
have  reason  to  fear  lest  the  Governor  of  the  universe, 
who  will  not  be  treated  with  indignity  by  a  people  any 
more  than  by  individuals,  overturn  from  the  foundation 
the  fabric  we  have  been  rearing,  and  crush  us  to  atoms 
in  the  wreck." 

It  is  proper,  also,  to  remark  that  this  movement  rests 
upon  the  profoundest  principles  of  political  philosophy, 
as  well  as  upon  the  pure  precepts  of  Christian  morality, 
and  is,  therefore,  thoroughly  logical  and  consistent  with 
itself. 

That  government  is  a  divine,  and  not  a  human,  insti- 


288  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

tution,  is  affirmed  by  all  political  writers  whose  opinion 
is  of  any  value  upon  the  subject.  To  name  them  is  to 
name  all  those  who  have  obtained  eminence  in  political 
science  in  our  own  country :  Lieber,  late  of  Columbia 
College ;  Tayler  Lewis  of  Union ;  Professor  Seelye  of 
Amherst,  the  scholar  and  thinker  of  New  England  ; 
Mulford,  the  author  of  that  able  political  work,  "  The 
Nation ; "  O.  A.  Brownson,  author  of  "  The  American 
Republic,"  not  to  mention  others  of  equal  ability  on 
these  subjects,  some  of  whom  are  with  us  in  this 
Convention. 

Governments  are  not  made :  they  grow.  They  are 
not  of  man,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.  They 
arise  under  the  operation  of  God's  providential  laws, 
and  are  created  as  moral  persons  for  the  accomplishment 
of  moral  ends.  "  The  nation  is  not  a  confused  collec- 
tion of  separate  atoms,  as  grains  of  sand  in  a  heap,  and 
its  increase  is  not  through  their  accumulation.  It  has 
the  unity  of  an  organism,  not  the  aggregation  of  a 
mass." 

If  government  be  not  divine,  then  it  is  merely  a  vol- 
untary association,  and  may  be  dissolved,  like  other 
voluntary  associations,  at  the  will  of  those  who  are  thus 
united ;  but  this  theory  would  subvert  society,  and  lead 
to  anarchy. 

The  experiment  of  the  erratic  Thoreau,  had  it  been 
successful,  would  have  proved  him  stronger  than  Massa- 
chusetts, stronger  than  the  United  States  ;  would  have 
proved  the  same  as  to  every  other  individual  under  the 
government,  and,  of  course,  would  have  subverted  its 
very  foundation. 

AYe  are  born  under  government  —  live,  act  our  little 


CHRISTIAN   LEGISLATION.  289 

part,  and  die,  under  it.  We  have  no  choice  in  the 
matter.  We  can  no  more  escape  from  it  than  from  the 
blue  heavens  above  us.  With  reverence  it  may  be  said 
of  government,  as  of  its  Author, ';  If  I  take  the  wings  of 
the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
sea,  even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right 
hand  hold  me."  There  is  no  divine  right  of  kings. 
There  are  no  providential  rulers  supernaturally  raised 
up  to  govern.  There  is,  however,  a  divine  right  of  gov- 
ernment :  it  is  of  God  through  the  people.  Hence, 
riders  are  accountable,  both  to  God  and  the  people. 
When  properly  understood,  "  vox  populi,  vox  Dei"  is 
the  embodiment  of  a  political  truth.  This  view  of  gov- 
ernment is  the  only  one  that  has  the  slightest  claim  to 
be  considered  philosophical  and  scientific,  and  makes 
our  demand  for  a  recognition  of  God  in  the  Constitu- 
tion not  merely  reasonable,  but  logical  and  necessary. 
The  sciolists  who  have  been  in  such  eager  haste  to 
throw  themselves  in  the  path  of  this  movement,  have 
never  made  even  an  attempt  at  argument  on  funda- 
mental principles.  They  are  wise.  Every  other  view 
of  government  is  unscientific,  disorganizini!:.  anarchical, 
and  despotic.  We  embrace  the  opportunity  to  say  to 
these  gentlemen,  that  platitudes  about  Puritanism, 
Jewish  theocracy,  union  of  Church  and  State,  religious 
persecution,  etc.,  are  arrows  that  fall  harmless  at  our 
feet.  A  cause  like  this,  resting  on  fundamental  prin- 
ciples, is  not  to  be  arrested  by  such  feeble  weapons. 
We  take  their  sneers,  and  bind  them  as  a  wreath  of 
honor  around  our  brows.  As  to  their  opinions,  which 
they  utter  so  oracularly,  I  would  that  they  understood 
how  little  we  regard  them. 


290  NATIONAL   REFORM. 

Not  a  few  journals  which  betray  their  utter  ignorance 
of  the  principles  of  political  philosophy,  treat  the  argu- 
ments for  this  movement  with  combined  flippancy  and 
arrogance.  And  "  The  New- York  Independent ! "  I  have 
seen  somewhere  a  story  of  a  poor  animal,  on  which  a 
cruel  devotee  of  science  had  been  experimenting,  that 
continued  to  wriggle  for  some  three  days  after  the 
brains  were  taken  out  of  it.  The  brains  were  taken  out 
of  the  "  Independent "  some  two  or  three  years  ago,  but 
it  wriggles  yet. 

Again,  governments  are  the  subjects  of  God's  immu- 
table laws,  whether  they  acknowledge  the  fact  or  not. 
Their  unbelief  cannot  make  void  the  purpose  of  God. 
The  government  is  not  the  people,  nor  the  people  the 
government,  although  the  one  is  not  without  the  other. 
There  is  one  law  for  the  individual,  and  another  for  the 
government,  —  a  judgment  of  the  individual,  and  a  judg- 
ment of  the  nation.  As  moral  persons,  they  are  the 
subjects  of  God's  moral  laws.  There  is  no  future  state 
of  rewards  and  punishment  for  nations :  hence  they 
receive  their  doom  or  their  chastisement  in  this  world. 
Home  advanced  her  conquests  until  she  embraced  the 
civilized  world.  Her  victorious  eagles  hovered  over 
the  finest  portions  of  three-quarters  of  the  globe.  She 
fell,  not  because  of  any  dark  or  fatal  necessity  compelling 
the  rise  and  fall  of  empires,  but  because  of  her  own 
crimes.  The  huge  and  bloated  carcass  was  rotten  at  the 
heart :  barbarous  invasion  but  completed  what  internal 
corruption  had  begun.  The  Goth,  the  Vandal,  and  the 
Hun  thundered  at  her  gates.  Her  pomp,  her  glory, 
and  her  multitudes  went  down  to  the  dust.  God's  laws 
wie  violated,  and  God's  ministers  of  vengeance  exe- 


CHRISTIAN'  LEGISLATION.  291 

cuted  upon  her  the  penalty.  We  need  not  go  to  the 
nations  of  antiquity  for  our  examples. 

But  a  few  years  have  passed  since  we  were,  as  a 
nation,  the  suhject  of  one  of  the  most  severe  national 
chastisements  that  has  befallen  any  nation  of  modern 
times.  We  were  in  the  full  tide  of  national  prosperity, 
as  men  judge  national  prosperity  ;  but  there  was  a  gross 
national  sin  resting  upon  us.  Suddenly  the  clouds  of  con- 
fusion gathered  over  us  :  the  Lord  God  thundered  in  the 
heavens,  and  there  the  Highest  gave  his  voice,  hail- 
stones and  coals  of  fire.  He  sent  out  his  lightnings, 
and  smote  us :  he  lifted  up  the  waves  of  his  wrath, 
and  rolled  them  upon  us.  The  land  trembled  beneath 
the  shock  of  contending  armies,  and  the  earth  drank 
in  the  blood  of  the  slain.  When  "  those  war-clouds 
rolling  dun  "  had  passed  away,  three  billions  of  treasure 
had  perished  ;  a  million  lives  had  been  sacrificed  ;  there 
was  not  a  house  in  which  there  was  not  one  dead  ; 
the  land  was  filled  with  a  very  great  mourning,  as  the 
mourning  of  Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megiddon, 
—  Rachel  weeping  for  her  children,  and  refusing  to  be 
comforted.  Can  history  furnish  a  more  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  punishment  of  a  nation,  coining  directly 
from  the  hand  of  God  for  the  violation  of  his  law  ? 
There  is  nothing  in  this  supernatural ;  nothing  miracu- 
lous. It  all  occurs  in  accordance  with  the  operation  of 
laws  which  God  has  established.  "  Facilis  descensus 
Averni"  is  true  of  a  nation.  "  Ephraim  is  joined  to  his 
idols,  let  him  alone." 

Again,  in  the  conduct  of  its  policy,  whether  that  policy 
relate  to  its  own  citizens,  or  to  its  relation  to  other 
nations,  a  nation  is  as  much  under  obligation  to  obey  the 


292  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

law  of  God  as  the  humblest  of  its  citizens.  We  have 
had  a  policy  toward  the  Indian  in  the  past.  That  policy 
we  all  admit  to  have  been  in  many  respects  unjust.  We 
have  another  policy  at  present,  —  a  policy  of  which  our 
esteemed  Chairman  is  an  honored  agent.  This  policy  is 
distinctively  Christian.  The  present  results  are  several 
expensive  Indian  wars  avoided,  with  their  attendant 
waste  of  blood  and  treasure.  We  have  had  a  policy 
toward  the  negro,  —  a  policy  toward  nations  with  whom 
we  have  been  brought  into  various  relations,  —  a  policy 
toward  the  Mormons,  —  a  policy  toward  the  Chinaman, 
etc.  What  is  the  standard  of  national  conduct  in  all 
these  instances  ?  Is  our  own  will  the  rule,  or  is  there  a 
higher  law  by  which  we  should  be  governed,  and  by  which 
we  will  be  tried?  To  ask  these  questions  is  to  answer 
them.  No  thoroughly  informed  person  will  deny  that  a 
nation  is  a  moral  person.  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  meet  in  arbitration :  the  question  between  them 
is  one  of  rights  ;  an  appeal  to  a  standard  must  be  made  ; 
that  standard  is  the  "  Law  of  Nations ; "  but  of  this 
law  it  may  indeed  be  said  that  "  it  hath  its  seat  in  the 
bosom  of  God,  and  its  voice  is  the  harmony  of  the  world." 
The  "  Law  of  Nations  "  is  an  expression  of  the  divine 
justice,  and  rests  ultimately  upon  the  revealed  will  of 
God.  The  recognition  on  the  part  of  a  nation  of  its 
subordination  to  the  law  of  God  is  the  recognition 
simply  of  a  demonstrated,  accepted  political  truth. 

There  is  no  point  upon  which  even  intelligent  persons 
appear  to  be  more  confused  than  upon  the  true  end  of 
government.  The  prevalent  opinion  is,  that  government 
is  simply  a  device  for  the  preservation  and  furtherance 
of  material  interests.     Jefferson's  view  was,  that  its  end 


CHRISTIAN  LEGISLATION.  293 

was  to  prevent  pockets  being  picked,  and  legs  from  being 
broken ;  or,  as  it  is  more  philosophically  expressed,  for 
the  protection  of  life  and  property.  We  heard  that 
eminent  philanthropist,  Gerrit  Smith,  when  running  as 
independent  candidate  for  the  governorship  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  say  in  this  hall  that  government  was 
simply  the  ivatch-dog  lying  at  the  door  of  the  citizen  to 
protect  his  property.  An  astute  lawyer  rose  in  the 
audience,  and  asked  him  what,  then,  was  his  opinion  of 
the  public-school  system  of  the  State;  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  answer  that  he  did  not  believe  education 
properly  a  function  of  government ! 

A  moment's  reflection  is  sufficient  to  convince  any  one 
both  of  the  fallacy  and  inadequacy  of  such  views.  Formed 
in  the  moral  sphere  of  the  divine  government,  civil  gov- 
ernment must  deal  with  the  higher  principles  of  human 
nature  and  with  the  higher  interests  of  society.  The 
family  is  formed  according  to  its  conception  of  the  true 
character  of  that  relation.  The  relation  of  parent  and 
child  is  controlled  and  regulated  by  its  laws.  Every 
right,  whether  of  property  or  of  conscience,  is  secured 
or  destroyed  by  its  arrangement.  Is  there  any  interest 
of  man  which  it  does  not  affect?  any  department  of 
human  action  with  which  it  docs  not  directly  or  indi- 
rectly interfere  ?  Whoever  reflects  upon  it  aright  will 
be  ready  to  say,  with  Arnold  of  Rugby,  that  it  is  mon- 
strous that  such  a  power  should  recognize  no  authority 
higher  than  itself.  This  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  the 
question,  so  often  asked,  why  a  government  should  ac- 
knowledge God  rather  than  a  bank,  railroad,  or  other 
corporation.  Government  is  supreme.  "Diis  immorta- 
libus  proatimi  sunt  magistratus."     There  is  no  other  power 


294  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

to  interfere  between  it  and  the  people.  It  would  be 
eminently  fitting  that  corporations  of  every  kind  should 
acknowledge  God.  The  current  maxim,  that  govern- 
ments have  no  souls,  indicates  the  corrupt  sentiment 
that  originates  fraudulent  "  rings "  and  "  corners." 
These  corporations,  however,  are,  as  Blackstone  says, 
merely  "  artificial  persons  :  "  they  are  limited  to  merely 
pecuniary  interests,  are  subject  to  the  sovereign  power, 
and  can  be  made  or  dissolved  according  to  its  pleasure. 
The  government,  however,  is  a  different  agent  altogether: 
it  knows  no  power  higher  than  itself;  it  controls  all, 
and  is  controlled  by  none.  "  Whom  it  will,  it  kills  ;  and 
whom  it  will,  it  keeps  alive."  No  power  can  interfere 
between  it  and  the  subject.  Its  sentence  is  final,  and, 
save  by  itself,  irreversible.  For  this  reason,  government 
by  a  majority  recognizing  no  allegiance  to  God  is  a  des- 
potism as  dangerous  and  as  absolute  as  that  of  the  purest 
autocracy  the  world  has  ever  seen.  On  my  way  to  this 
Convention,  I  asked  an  eminent  lawyer,  a  member  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Constitutional  Convention,  "  Why  do  you 
punish  bigamy  in  Pennsylvania?"  —  "Because  it  is  a 
crime — a  malum  in  se."  —  "According  to  what  law?" 
—  "Of  course,"  he  replied,  "  the  law  of  God  as  revealed 
in  Christianity."  This  is  the  precise  truth.  Why  not, 
then,  acknowledge  the  law  by  which  our  legislation  is, 
and  must  be,  governed  ?  A  friend  to  whom  I  put  the 
same  question,  replied,  that  it  should  be  punished  for 
the  good  of  society.  But  who  is  to  judge?  In  Moham- 
medan countries  polygamy  prevails,  not,  in  their  estima- 
tion, a  malum,  but  a  bonum,  in  se, —  a  useful  institution, 
necessary  to  the  good,  perhaps  the  very  existence,  of 
society.     Is  it  not  plain  that  our  legislation  proceeds  on 


CHRISTIAN  LEGISLATION.  295 

principles  purely  Christian  —  that  to  deny  this  fact,  or  to 
act  on  the  denial,  would  subvert  modern  society  ?  Thus, 
it  is  manifest  that  this  movement  is  not  only  theoretical, 
resting  upon  fundamental  principles,  but  eminently 
practical.  The  law  of  marriage  makes  all  the  difference 
between  Western  and  Oriental  civilization.  Polygamy, 
as  an  institution,  rests  in  Mohammedan  countries  upon 
the  Koran,  but  in  Christian  countries  upon  the  rule  of 
Christ,  "  They  twain  shall  be  one  flesh."  If  our  govern- 
ment is  to  know  no  distinction  of  religion,  why  shall  we 
discriminate  against  the  Mormon  or  Mohammedan  on  a 
principle  which  his  religion  does  not  forbid,  nay,  into 
which  it  enters  as  an  essential  element1?  To  deny  that 
we  have  a  right  to  legislate  on  Christian  principles  is  to 
deny  a  principle  upon  which  our  legislatures  and  courts 
are  acting  every  day.  The  theory  which  we  oppose,  if 
logically  carried  out,  would  reduce  men  to  a  herd,  and 
society  to  the  wildest  anarchy. 

We  are  justly  proud  of  our  liberties,  but  whence  have 
they  come  ?  From  an  ancestry  thoroughly  imbued  with 
Christianity,  men  who  shed  their  blood  like  water  to 
secure  the  right  to  read  the  word  of  God,  and  to  wor- 
ship him  according  to  its  requirements.  "  O  Liberty, 
what  crimes  have  been  committed  in  thy  name !"  said 
Madame  Roland,  as  from  the  scaffold  she  raised  her 
hands  to  Heaven.  Let  us  remember  that  these  crimes 
have  been  committed  in  the  name  of  infidel  liberty,  not 
of  a  liberty  regulated  by  the  law  of  Christ.  The  open 
Bible  Pere  Ilyacinthe  affirms  to  be  the  secret  of  the 
power  and  glory  of  America  and  Britain.  Every  step 
of  progress  which  a  nation  makes  is  by  taking  up  some 
Christian    principle     into    the    national    life.       French 


296  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

communism  is  the  ideal  of  those  who  stand  in  the  front 
ranks  of  our  opponents,  —  a  horror  which  so  alarms  the 
French  people  of  to-day  that  they  willingly  submit  to 
almost  any  government  which  gives  them  security  against 
its  atrocities.  The  more  a  nation  has  of  Christianity  the 
freer  it  becomes,  is  a  fact  which  admits  of  no  exception 
since  the  days  of  Christ ;  and  yet  one  would  think,  to 
hear  certain  newspapers  talk,  that  it  was  of  all  other 
things  to  be  dreaded  and  shunned.  A  decade  will  not, 
in  all  probability,  pass,  until  it  will  be  seen  that  this 
contest  is  a  struggle  for  civil  and  religious  liberty  against 
atheism  and  infidelity,  those  dire  foes  not  only  of  God, 
but  of  man.  I  do  not  wish  to  exaggerate  the  evils  of  the 
hour.  A  great  calamity  has  fallen  upon  us.  We  hang 
our  heads  with  shame.  Is  there  no  remedy  ?  Is  there 
no  balm  in  Gilead  ?  Is  there  no  physician  there  X  Are 
not  the  leaves  of  the  tree  of  life  for  the  healing  of  this 
nation?  I  am  aware  that  men  say,  "Look  at  your 
Christian  statesmen  !  "  That  some  of  those  implicated 
in  these  recent  disgraceful  transactions  have  made  some 
sort  of  Christian  profession,  is  currently  reported  ;  that 
they  were  among  the  most  trusted  of  our  public  men,  all 
admit.  When  I  was  in  Chicago,  after  the  great  confla- 
gration, I  saw  how  the  apparently  strongest  and  most 
durable  structures  had  melted  like  wax  in  that  awful 
furnace,  —  those  that  remained  standing  crumbled  and 
defaced,  as  though  smitten  by  all  the  storms  of  ruin  for 
a  thousand  years.  What  must  have  been  the  intensity 
of  that  conflagration  in  which  they  perished  !  When  we 
sec  men  go  down  like  those  whose  names,  for  very  pity, 
we  cannot  mention,  we  may  infer  how  great  the  tempta- 
tion to  which  they  have  been  exposed,  and  find  an  addi- 


CHRISTIAN  LEGISLATION.  297 

tional  argument  for  the  necessity  of  applying  a  radical 
remedy  to  the  existing  state  of  politics  in  our  country. 
There  is  no  charm  in  words,  but  there  is  omnipotence  in 
principles.  Our  amendment  would  elevate  government 
into  the  sphere  of  a  high  moral  duty,  and  remove  it 
from  the  domain  now  occupied  by  the  stock  exchange 
and  the  speculators'  "  corner."  Its  tendency  must  be 
to  raise  up  a  class  of  public  men  influenced  by  moral 
considerations,  and  accepting  office  as  a  duty  to  be  dis- 
charged, rather  than  as  a  door  of  admission  to  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  accumulation  of  boundless  personal  wealth. 

What  other  remedy  is  proposed  that  has  not,  again 
and  again,  been  tried  and  failed  ?  Is  it  not  time  to  make 
one  earnest  and  united  effort  to  infuse  a  new  power  into 
government,  that  may  transform  politics  from  a  reckless 
game  into  a  sacred  trust  ? 

There  are  other  questions  of  a  more  immediately  prac- 
tical character  pressing  themselves  upon  us  at  this  very 
moment,  and  from  which  there  is  no  escape.  Is  Presi- 
dent Grant  to  succeed  in  his  effort  to  abolish  polygamy 
in  Utah?  Are  we  to  fold  our  hands,  and  tamely  submit 
to  the  expulsion  of  the  Bible  from  all  our  schools? 
Shall  the  oath  be  banished  from  our  courts  of  justice  I 
Shall  we  resist  and  antagonize,  in  all  lawful  ways,  the 
open,  determined,  and  diabolical  effort  now  made  to 
destroy  every  Christian  element  which  yet  remains  in 
our  government,  and  by  constitutional  enactments  secure 
them  to  us  and  our  posterity  forever,  while  we  lay  the 
foundation  for  still  further  progress  in  the  same  direc- 
tion ? 

Of  all  questions,  these  are  the  most  practical,  as  they 
are  the  ones  which  press  themselves  with  the  greatest 


298  NATIONAL  REFORM. 

urgency  upon  our  immediate  consideration.  That  we 
shall  succeed  in  carrying  this  amendment,  does  not  admit 
of  doubt.  The  ablest  thinkers  of  the  nation  are  with 
us.  As  a  question  of  talent,  the  weight  is  upon  our 
side.  The  great  majority  of  the  best  people  of  the  nation 
are  with  us.  They  only  need  to  be  awakened  to  the 
importance  of  the  issues  which  are  made,  and  they  will 
rise  as  the  waves  of  the  ocean  when  the  storm  descends 
upon  it,  and  whelm  beneath  the  tide  of  Christian  senti- 
ment the  audacious  demands  of  an  impious  and  alien 
atheism.  This  place *  calls  up  strange  recollections.  I 
have  stood  on  this  platform  when  this  hall  was  filled 
with  a  raging,  howling,  blaspheming,  pro-slavery  mob, 
whose  violence  it  took  one  hundred  policemen,  with  the 
chief  of  the  police  at  their  head,  to  restrain  ;  and  in  less 
than  two  years  the  streets  of  this  city  echoed  to  the 
strains  of  splendid  regiments  armed  against  slavery, 
kindled  to  the  white-heat  of  a  burning  patriotism,  as 
they  sang, — 

"John  Brown's  body  lies  a-mouldering  in  the  grave, 
His  soul  is  marehing  on." 

God  is  with  us :  it  is  his  prerogative  to  work  with 
many  or  with  few.  It  is  not  for  us  to  know  the  times 
or  the  seasons  which  the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own 
power.  We  will  succeed,  whether  in  the  near  or  the 
distant  future.  The  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 
The  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ. 

1  J  lull  of  the  Cooper  Institute. 


INTEMPERANCE  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES 
A  HINDERANCE  TO  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.1 


The  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  an  aggressive 
power,  an  army  marching  under  the  banner  of  her  king 
and  head ;  her  enemies  are  the  principalities  and  powers 
of  darkness ;  the  conflict  which  she  wages  admits  of 
neither  truce  nor  compromise  ;  there  is  no  discharge  in 
that  war ;  she  must  go  on  conquering  and  to  conquer 
until  she  brings  forth  battle  unto  victory.  With  weapons 
which  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through  God  to  the 
pulling  down  of  strongholds,  she  antagonizes  every  form 
of  evil,  and  seeks  to  bring  every  thought  and  imagina- 
tion of  man's  heart  into  subjection  to  the  law  of  Christ. 
The  Church  is  a  divine  organization  commissioned  to 
oppose,  overturn,  and  utterly  destroy  the  kingdom  of 
Satan,  to  set  up  that  kingdom  whose  dominion  is  right- 
eousness and  peace,  and  thus  secure  to  men  of  every 
kindred  and  tongue  the  blessings  which  the  Son  of  God 
became  incarnate  and  died  upon  Calvary  to  procure. 
She  wages  an  irrepressible  conflict,  not  only  with  the 
Protean  forms  of  sceptical  and  atheistic  unbelief,  but 
with  those  insidious  and  pervasive  social  vices  which 
are  eating,  as  doth  a  canker,  into  the  very  heart  of  society, 
and  which  are  the  Marah  fountains  whence  flow  the  bitter 

1  Pau-Presbyteriau  Council,  Edinburgh,  July  9,  1ST". 

299 


300  INTEMPERANCE 

waters  of  shame,  crime,  despair,  and  death.  It  is  proper 
that  some  should  sit  apart,  and  "  reason  high "  upon 
those  profound  questions  which  relate  to  the  very  founda- 
tions of  the  Christian  faith ;  but  others  must  descend 
into  the  arena  of  tempted,  sinning,  suffering,  dying  men, 
and  battle  face  to  face,  hand  to  hand,  with  those  forms 
of  evil  which  slay  their  tens  of  thousands,  where  mere 
intellectual  error  cannot  number  even  its  hundreds  of 
victims.  As  a  heinous  in  against  God,  the  foe  of  society, 
and  the  baleful  enemy  of  pure  and  undented  religion, 
an  almost  unanimous  suffrage  assigns  the  foremost  place 
to  the  vice  of  intemperance.  In  our  judgment,  intem- 
perance is  not  properly  correlated  with  other  social 
evils,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  legitimate  and  prolific  parent 
of  all  the  others  :  it  is  not  only  a  violation  of  the  Divine 
law,  but  the  cause  of  the  breach  of  every  precept  of  the 
Decalogue.  With  impious  hand  this  gigantic  criminal 
dashes  both  tables  of  the  law  to  pieces,  and  tramples 
them  beneath  its  feet.  Vic  do  not  exaggerate :  intem- 
perance leads  the  horrible  train  of  all  the  vices,  it 
marshals  the  armies  of  these  aliens  in  their  warfare 
against  the  Lord  and  his  anointed,  and  is  the  most  pow- 
erful and  the  most  dangerous  enemy  with  which  the 
Church  is  compelled  to  grapple.  It  is  proper  that  this 
great  Conference,  designed  to  be,  to  some  extent,  the 
exponent  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  power  of  one  of  the 
grand  divisions  of  Protestant  Christianity,  should  assign 
it  a  place  in  its  deliberations.  I  am  to  speak  of  intem- 
perance in  the  United  States  as  one  of  the  hinderances 
of  spiritual  life.  It  is  estimated  that  there  arc  in  that 
country  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  establishments 
for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks,  that  these  arc  con- 


A    IIINDEKAXCE  TO  SPIRITUAL   LIFE.  301 

sumcd  to  the  value  of  five  hundred  million  dollars,  that 
there  arc  not  less  than  five  hundred  thousand  drunkards, 
and  that  of  these  at  least  fifty  thousand  annually  go 
down  to  a  drunkard's  grave  and  a  drunkard's  doom. 
These  figures  are  indeed  appalling,  yet  they  do  not 
furnish  the  data  for  an  adequate  conception  of  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  evil.  Consider  the  loss  of  food  in  the 
consumption  of  the  grain  from  which  these  intoxicating 
liquors  are  produced,  of  labor  in  those  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  them,  and  especially  in  those 
who  use  them  to  excess,  the  poverty,  crime,  disease,  mad- 
ness, and  death  which  are  the  inseparable  concomitants 
of  indulgence  in  intoxicating  drinks,  and  we  have  an 
aggregate  of  wickedness  and  misery  impossible  to  esti- 
mate :  wre  become  lost  in  the  attempt  to  trace  the  thou- 
sand channels  into  which  this  river  of  death  pours  its 
floods  of  "  torrent  fire." 

Especially  do  Ave  find  this  colossal  iniquity  confronting 
the  Church  on  every  field  which  she  enters,  in  every 
department  of  her  beneficent  labor,  and,  more  than  any 
other  single  cause,  neutralizing  her  self-denying  labors 
on  behalf  of  our  sinful  and  suffering  humanity.  Those 
who  arc  engaged  in  any  way  in  the  traffic  in  intoxicating 
liquors  are,  to  a  great  extent,  inaccessible  to  the  gospel ; 
they  seem  instinctively  to  feci  that  their  pursuit  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  life  of  a  follower  of  Him  who  came  to 
seek  and  save  that  which  was  lost ;  they  repel  that 
influence  which  would  of  necessity  withdraw  them  from 
that  occupation  by  which  they  have  their  gain,  and 
accordingly  the  traffic  is,  to  a  very  great  extent,  in  the 
hands  of  the  ungodly. 

Conversions  from  the  ranks  of  those  who  use  intoxi- 


302  INTEMPERANCE 

cants  to  excess  are  painfully  infrequent.  "  No  drunk- 
ard shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  It  is  the  almost 
unanimous  testimony  of  those  ministers  who  have  had 
experience  in  great  cities,  that  of  all  their  labors  they 
have  had  least  fruit  from  that  expended  upon  this  class. 
Alcohol  appears  to  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  agents 
in  benumbing  the  moral  faculties,  and  thereby  carrying 
its  victim  beyond  the  reach  of  gracious  influences.  It 
withers  with  its  scorching  breath  all  the  nobler  propen- 
sities of  the  human  soul,  and  quenches  the  spirit,  while 
it  inflames  and  intensifies  the  lower  and  more  debasing 
passions.  "  Be  not  drunk  with  wine  wherein  is  excess." 
Our  Redeemer  is  mighty  to  save.  Nothing  is  too  hard 
for  God :  nevertheless,  it  is  the  testimony  of  the  largest 
experience,  that  there  are  but  few  conversions  from 
habitual  drinkers  of  any  grade,  and  none  from  those 
who  drink  to  excess,  except  where  the  habit  is  immedi- 
ately and  permanently  abandoned.  The  connection 
between  temperance  and  revivals  of  religion  in  the 
United  States  is  close  and  inseparable.  The  first  great 
temperance  movement  originated  in  connection  with  a 
season  of  special  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Temperance  revivals,  and  revivals  of  religion,  have  gone 
hand  in  hand,  from  the  times  of  Nettleton  to  those  of 
Moody.  To  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  is  the  very  oppo- 
site of  being  drunk  with  wine.  "  The  spiritual "  and 
"  the  spirituous  "  are  diametrically  opposed.  "  The  fruit 
of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentle- 
ness, goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance."  What  shall 
we  say  of  the  thousands  who  are  prevented  from  attend- 
ance on  any  form  of  religious  instruction  because  of  the 
indulgence    of  a  father  or  a  mother,  or  some  one  on 


A  IIIXDERAXCE  TO  SPIRITUAL   LIFE.  303 

whom  they  are  dependent,  in  this  vice?  A  few  years  ago 
investigation  revealed  the  startling  fact,  that  a  large 
proportion  of  the  inmates  of  our  jails  and  penitentia- 
ries had  enjoyed  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period  the  bene- 
fits of  sabbath-school  instruction.  Further  investigation 
explained  the  apparent  mystery.  Intemperance  had 
succeeded  the  sabbath-school  instruction,  and  in  almost 
every  instance  had  been  the  occasion  of  the  criminal 
act.  Much  of  the  work  of  "  Bible  Societies,"  "  Tract 
Societies,"  "  Christian  Associations,"  etc.,  is  neutralized 
in  the  same  way.  The  good  seed  too  often  falls  upon 
a  soil  hardened  by  indulgence  in  alcoholic  stimulants, 
and  brings  forth  no  fruit.  Would  that  we  could  stop 
here  !  But  no :  this  serpent  enters  the  sanctuary,  and 
coils  its  polluting  folds  about  the  very  altar  of  God.  It 
takes  its  victims,  both  from  the  ministry  and  membership 
of  the  Church.  The  fact  that  so  large  a  proportion  of 
both  of  these  classes  in  the  United  States  are  total  ab- 
stainers, lessens  to  a  considerable  extent  its  ravages  in 
the  fold  of  Christ:  nevertheless,  it  is  even  there  the 
greatest  trouble  of  Israel,  the  occasion  of  many  stum- 
bling and  falling.  "  Many  through  strong  drink  are 
out  of  the  way."  It  is  estimated  that  intemperance 
furnishes  two-thirds  of  all  the  cases  of  discipline,  and 
occasions  manifold  disturbances  which  do  not  come 
within  the  range  of  ecclesiastical  law :  besides,  it  has  a 
powerful  tendency  to  dry  up,  and  turn  into  other  chan- 
nels, those  streams  of  beneficence  which  should  fill  the 
treasury  of  the  Lord's  house.  Money  which  should  be 
directly  employed  in  bringing  the  truth  to  bear  on  the 
hearts  of  men,  must  be  expended  in  feeding  the  hungry, 
clothing  the  naked,  and  ministering  to  the  sick,  who 


304:  INTEMPERANCE 

have  been  deprived  of  the  necessaries  of  life  through 
indulgence  in  this  vice.  If  the  resources  yearly  wasted 
in  various  ways  by  this  foul  destroyer  of  the  souls  and 
bodies  of  men  could  be  employed  in  Christ's  cause,  the 
Church  would  be  in  possession  of  abundant  means  for 
carrying  forward  all  the  work  in  which  she  is  engaged. 
"What  shall  we  say  of  the  gambling,  the  strife,  the  licen- 
tiousness, the  sabbath  profanation,  the  blasphemy,  —  in 
fine,  of  the  whole  dark  catalogue  of  violations  of  the 
divine  law,  which  are  the  legitimate  fruits  of  this  deadly 
upas  ?  The  more  closely  we  scrutinize  this  iniquity, 
the  greater  are  the  abominations  disclosed,  as  in  some 
awful  "  Inferno"  each  descending  circle  is  more  revolting 
and  horrible  than  the  last. 

The  Presbyterian,  in  common  with  the  other  churches 
of  the  United  States,  realizes  that  it  has  a  weighty  re- 
sponsibility in  this  matter,  an  obligation  that  must  be 
met  and  discharged.  The  most  encouraging  feature  of 
the  present  great  uprising  in  the  temperance  movement 
in  the  United  States  is  the  deepening  conviction  in  the 
mind  of  the  Church  that  she,  and  she  alone,  is  endued 
with  the  power  from  on  High  necessary  and  adequate  to 
the  utter  extinction  of  this  fearful  curse.  The  impres- 
sion grows  stronger,  that  the  time  has  come  when  the 
Church  must  assume  a  most  aggressive  attitude  towards 
intemperance  in  all  its  forms  and  occasions.  In  the 
mean  time,  however,  she  is  neither  idle  nor  indifferent. 

I.  The  great  majority  of  the  ministry  of  the  Presby- 
terian churches  in  the  United  States,  and  we  believe 
the  same  to  be  true  of  those  of  sister  denominations,  are 
total  abstainers.  They  find,  like  the  eloquent  Guthrie, 
that  "  they  must  give  up   the  hope   of  being   Christ's 


A  IIIXDERANCE  TO  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  305 

ministers  to  lost  souls,"  unless  they  take  up  the  princi- 
ple of  total  abstinence.  The  prevalent  sentiment  of 
these  churches  condemns  the  use  of  intoxicants  of  any 
kind  as  inconsistent  with  the  sacred  office  of  a  Christian 
minister.  So  prevalent  is  this  sentiment,  in  at  least 
some  of  these  churches,  that  any  one  who  should  prac- 
tise differently  would  find  his  influence  and  usefulness 
greatly  impaired  if  not  utterly  destroyed.  This  senti- 
ment we  believe  to  be  rapidly  increasing  throughout 
the  entire  Presbyterian  family. 

II.  The  truth  of  God's  Word  is  boldly  and  effectively 
proclaimed  from  the  pulpit,  while  large  and  rapidly  in- 
creasing numbers  of  the  ministry  are  earnest  workers  in 
the  temperance  cause :  temperance  societies  are  encour- 
aged ;  these  are,  in  many  instances,  largely  composed  of 
church  members,  and  draw  their  vitality  from  a  congrega- 
tion with  which  they  are  more  or  less  closely  connected. 

III.  The  two  most  remarkable  recent  temperance 
movements,  viz.,  "  The  Women's  Crusade,"  in  which 
bands  of  earnest  women  passed  through  the  streets  of 
towns,  villages,  and  cities,  visiting  drinking  "  saloons," 
talking,  and,  when  permitted,  praying,  with  the  keepers, 
a  movement  which  was  the  means  of  rescuing  many 
thousands  ;  and  the  present  so-called  "  Murphy  "  move- 
ment, from  the  name  of  the  man  who  has  been  most 
conspicuous  as  a  worker  in  it.  —  have  been  eminently 
religious  in  their  characters.  The  means  employed 
have  been  praise,  prayer,  and  earnest  appeals  to  the 
religious  nature :  the  power  on  which  they  have  relied 
has  been  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  These 
movements  have  derived  their  chief  strength  and  sup- 
port from  members  of  the  evangelical  churches . 


306  INTEMPERANCE 

IV.  The  Presbyterian  churches  of  the  United  States 
have,  from  time  to  time,  taken  decided  action  on  the 
subject  of  intemperance.  The  "General  Assembly" 
has  in  repeated  declarative  acts  condemned  in  strong 
language  the  manufacture,  sale,  and  use  of  intoxicating 
beverages  as  a  sin  against  God,  and  wholly  inconsistent 
with  a  Christian  profession.  The  "  United  Presbyterian 
Church  "  condemns  these  practices  in  equally  emphatic 
terms;  her  official  deliverance  is  in  these  words:  "The 
use,  manufacture,  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a 
beverage  is  inconsistent  with  membership  in  the  Church 
of  Christ."  The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  not 
only  condemns  the  use,  manufacture,  and  sale  of  these 
beverages,  but  considers  perseverance  in  these  practices- 
a  bar  to  membership  in  her  communion. 

These  facts  may  serve  to  show  the  general  attitude 
of  Presbyterianism  toward  the  evil  of  intemperance,  and 
accepted  as  earnests  of  future  progress  in  the  same 
direction.  Much  has  been  done,  much  more  remains 
to  be  done :  there  is  yet  much  land  to  be  possessed. 

Our  limits  will  permit  us  to  emphasize  but  a  few 
points. 

I.  It  would  seem  to  be  a  duty  incumbent  upon  the 
Church  to  determine,  by  a  careful  study  of  God's  "Word, 
what  is  its  teaching  upon  the  subject  of  temperance. 
Every  proposed  reform  must  stand  or  fall  in  proportion 
as  it  is  conformed  to  that  unerring  standard  which  God 
has  given  us.  If  they  speak  not  according  to  this  "Word, 
there  is  no  truth  in  them.  To  this  rule  the  temperance 
reform  furnishes  no  exception:  the  Bible  is  a  perfect 
rule,  both  of  faith  and  practice. 

There  is  surely  clear  and  definite  teaching  upon  this 


A   IIIXDERAXCE  TO   SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  307 

subject ;  and  the  Church  is  the  agent  to  define  what  that 
teaching  is,  and  proclaim  it  to  a  suffering  world.  A 
scholarly,  critical  examination  of  those  passages  which 
bear  upon  this  question  will  furnish  the  necessary  data : 
from  these  the  rule  that  God  has  given  may  be  gen- 
eralized, and,  as  on  other  subjects,  a  firm  foundation 
reached.  The  word  of  God  is  the  ultimate  standard 
of  appeal,  and  on  its  teachings  the  final  decision  must 
rest. 

II.  The  Church  may,  on  purely  practical  grounds  if 
on  no  other,  utter  her  protest  against  the  prevalent 
drinking  usages  of  society.  That  these  are  evil,  and 
only  evil,  and  that  continually,  no  one  who  has  not 
closed  his  eyes,  and  stopped  his  ears,  can  for  a  moment 
deny.  As  the  waters  of  our  great  lakes,  gathered  in 
one  united  stream,  are  poured  in  thunder  into  the  awful 
abyss  at  Niagara ;  so  from  out  of  these  diffused  drinking 
customs  of  society  comes  this  horrid  host  of  inebriates, 
who  each  year  stagger  downwards  with  frenzied  curses, 
wails,  and  lamentations,  into  the  abyss  of  everlasting 
perdition.  Questions  of  exegesis  apart,  here  is  an  awful 
result ;  the  cause  is  not  hidden,  the  need  of  action  is 
immediate  and  urgent ;  and  the  Church,  as  it  seems  to 
us,  cannot,  without  incurring  guilt,  delay  to  put  forth 
her  wisest  and  most  effective  efforts.  The  example  of 
Him  who  gave  himself  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the 
world,  the  whole  spirit  of  the  gospel  which  he  came  to 
proclaim,  every  consideration  of  love  and  mercy  to  the 
weak,  the  erring,  the  falling,  and  the  fallen,  urge  us 
to  throw  the  entire  weight  of  our  example  and  influence 
against  these  pernicious  customs.  May  the  Lord  hasten 
the  day  when  from  all  the  pulpits  of  Christendom  shall 


308  INTEMPERANCE 

go  up  a  united  protest,  loud  as  the  sound  of  many 
waters  and  of  mighty  thunderings,  against  these  usages, 
which  are  the  source  of  such  appalling  misery. 

III.  The  Church  has  a  great  work  before  her  in  edu- 
cating the  people  in  the  true  nature  of  civil  government 
as  an  ordinance  of  God,  a  divinely  appointed  institution 
for  the  promotion  not  only  of  the  physical  but  of  the 
moral  well-being  of  all  the  citizens.  False  and  unscrip- 
tural  ideas  of  the  functions  of  the  State  imported  from 
materialistic  sources,  and  the  outgrowth  of  an  infidel 
philosophy,  are  widely  disseminated,  and  withstand  all 
efforts  to  make  the  laws  of  men  conform  to  the  law  of 
God.  False  conceptions  of  personal  liberty,  such  as  we 
find  inculcated  in  the  school  of  Mill,  stand  in  the  path 
of  the  temperance  reformation.  These  can  only  be  re- 
moved by  the  persistent  inculcation  of  true  Christian 
ethics.  We  may  not  hope  for  the  highest  degree  of 
success  until  we  have  laid  the  foundations  of  "  the 
Christian  State  "  in  an  acknowledgment  of  God  as  the 
supreme  source  of  all  legitimate  civil  authority,  and 
the  Bible  as  the  "  fountain  of  all  moral  principles  for 
both  Church  and  State."  It  is  true  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  is  not  of  this  world,  but  it  is  both  in  and  over 
this  world ;  to  him  every  knee  must  bow,  and  every 
tongue  confess ;  all  power  has  been  given  to  him ;  in 
this  grant  civil  government  is  included ;  the  leaven  of 
the  gospel  must  pervade  all  departments  of  human 
society ;  and  hence  no  law  that  contravenes  the  law  of 
Christ  is  of  any  permanent  obligation,  or  can  bind  the 
conscience.  Few  have  as  yet  realized  the  vast  influence 
of  the  State  as  an  educator  of  the  public  mind.  Large 
numbers  accept  the  laws  as  their  standard  of  right  and 


A  IIIXDERANCE  TO  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  309 

wrong ;  that  is  right  which  the  State  legalizes,  and  that 
is  wrong  only  which  it  forbids ;  hence  the  inestimable 
value  of  righteous  laws  as  a  teacher  of  the  public  con- 
science. "  lie  is  a  blind  observer  of  the  forces  that 
govern  in  human  life,  who  does  not  see  the  moral 
power  of  penal  law — even  when  extensively  violated 
—  in  teaching  virtue  and  in  restraining  vice."  The 
advocates  of  temperance  in  the  United  States  are 
rapidly  coming  to  the  conviction  that  all  laws  licensing 
the  drink  traffic  are  in  their  very  nature  wrong,  and 
that  absolute  prohibition  is  the  only  attitude  which  the 
State  can  assume  toward  this  evil  without  incurring 
guilt.  The  Church  must  educate  the  public  mind  up 
to  that  high  moral  standard  which  is  necessary  both  for 
the  enactment  and  enforcement  of  such  laws  as  shall 
the  most  effectually  restrain  this  evil. 

IV.  If,  as  we  have  seen  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
judicatories  have  declared,  the  manufacture,  sale,  and 
use  of  intoxicants  be  a  sin  against  God,  and  inconsistent 
with  a  Christian  profession,  these  practices  must  come 
in  some  form  within  the  cognizance  of  the  Church 
courts.  How  far  the  weight  of  ecclesiastical  authority 
shall  be  brought  to  bear  against  them,  is  a  serious  ques- 
tion, to  be  thoughtfully  considered  by  those  upon  whom 
this  responsibility  rests.  We  may,  however,  without 
overstepping  the  proprieties  of  the  occasion,  be  per- 
mitted to  suggest  that  the  testimony  of  the  Church 
against  any  evil  must  be  greatly  weakened  so  long  as  it 
is  tolerated  in  any  form  within  her  pale.  If  Christians 
are  to  have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of 
darkness,  but  rather  reprove  them,  then  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  this  not  unfruitful,  but  very  fruitful,  work  of 


310  INTEMPERANCE. 

darkness  can  be  longer  permitted  to  derive  any  support 
from  the  Church  of  Christ.  Has  not  the  time  come  for 
the  Church  to  rise  in  her  might,  and  throw  the  whole 
weight  of  her  moral  and  spiritual  power  against  this 
"  gigantic  crime  of  crimes  "  ? 

But,  in  conclusion,  whatever  may  be  the  diversity  of 
views  upon  this  subject,  the  greatness  of  the  evil  is  a 
point  on  which  we  must  surely  be  entirely  agreed.  Let 
us,  then,  lift  up  our  prayer  to  that  God  who  giveth  lib- 
erally, that  he  would  so  endow  us  with  the  spirit  of  wis- 
dom that  we  may  be  directed  to  the  best  means  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  end  which  we  all  earnestly  desire, 
the  extinction  of  intemperance  and  of  every  other  evil 
that  opposes  pure  and  undefiled  religion,  the  final  and 
full  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 


FKEEMASONRY. 


It  is  Mr.  John  Foster  in  his  essay  on  popular  igno- 
rance, I  believe,  who  employs  an  illustration  of  this 
kind :  An  officer  was  sent  out  to  take  a  fortress ;  he 
failed :  his  excuse  was,  that  it  was  mud ;  if  it  had  been 
wood,  he  might  have  shattered  or  burned  it ;  if  it  had 
been  stone,  repeated  blows  would  have  crumbled  it ;  but 
the  thing  was  mud,  and  the  balls  simply  struck  in  it, 
without  doing  it  any  injury. 

Something  of  the  same  difficulty  is  encountered  in 
dealing  with  Freemasonry :  it  has  no  basis  of  truth  on 
which  it  rests  :  it  is  supported  by  no  argument ;  it  has 
no  results  to  which  it  may  point  as  a  support  to  its 
pretensions ;  there  it  stands,  repeating  with  damnable 
iteration  its  high-sounding  phrases,  with  unblushing 
repetition  its  exposed  falsehoods,  and  putting  forward 
its  arrogant  pretensions  with  as  impudent  an  assurance 
as  though  its  utter  hollowness  and  baseness  had  never 
been  exposed. 

It  is  a  fortress  of  mud,  resting  on  the  ignorance, 
infatuation,  and  prejudice  of  its  dupes,  on  which  argu- 
ment is  lost.     How  shall  we  deal  with  such  a  sham  I 

When  we  read  of  the  numbers  which  this  institution 
claims,  we  are  reminded  of  the  cynical  remark  of 
Carlyle,  "  These  islands  contain  thirty  millions  more  or 
less  of  inhabitants,  mostly  fools." 

311 


312  FREEMASONRY. 

The  number  which  this  sorceress  charms  to  her  pol- 
luted embrace  is  a  sad  commentary  on  the  wickedness 
and  folly  of  our  fallen  humanity.  Were  it  not  that  we 
are  bound  to  be  co-workers  with  Christ,  in  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  race  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  Satan  in 
all  its  manifold  forms,  we  might  turn  away  with  scorn 
in  the  heart,  and  contempt  on  the  lip,  from  the  infatu- 
ated dupes  of  this  degrading  idolatry.  "  Ephraim  is 
joined  to  his  idols,  let  him  alone." 

"  For  this  purpose  was  the  Son  of  God  manifested, 
that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil."  The 
followers  of  Christ  are  his  agents  and  his  instruments  ; 
and,  wherever  they  see  a  strong  hold  of  the  Prince  of 
Darkness,  they  must  and  will  attack  it. 

The  devil  of  Masonry  cries  out  as  loud  as  those  in  the 
days  of  Christ,  to  be  let  alone ;  but  it  cannot  be  let 
alone  :  we  must  follow  it  into  all  its  lurking-places,  and 
compel  it  to  come  out  into  the  light  of  day.  Can  any 
man  who  is  freed  from  its  influence,  fail  to  see  that 
Masonry,  from  its  very  nature,  must  be  a  dangerous 
institution,  comprising,  as  it  does,  men  of  every  grade 
of  character,  bound  together  by  terrible  oaths,  meeting 
under  the  veil  of  secrecy,  withdrawn  entirely  from 
woman's  influence,  safe  from  any  exposure  of  word  or 
act  by  the  press,  subject  to  the  irresponsible  will  of 
those  who  occupy  positions  of  authority,  —  is  there  any 
one  so  besottedly  foolish  as  not  to  see  that  such  an 
institution  is  fraught  with  elements  of  danger  to  the 
community  ? 

The  very  conditions  of  its  existence  make  it  an  insti- 
tution to  be  shunned  by  the  wise,  and  to  be  dreaded  by 
all  the  good. 


FREEMASONRY.  313 

Look  over  the  rank  and  file  of  any  Masonic  proces- 
sion ;  reflect  that  whatever  may  be  the  general  character 
of  these  men,  there  is  not  one  in  that  number  who  had 
enough  of  conscience  to  prevent  him  from  swearing  in 
the  worst  possible  form  in  which  language  could  ex- 
press it,  that  he  would  keep  forever  inviolate  the  secrets 
of  every  other  associate,  and  that  before,  and  without 
knowing  what  these  secrets  may  be,  and  then  believe,  if 
you  can,  that  there  is  no  danger  in  such  institutions. 
Select  the  most  virtuous  men  you  know  ;  let  every  prin- 
ciple which  they  possess  be  an  accepted  truth,  and  then 
bind  them  together  with  an  oath  of  secrecy,  and  with- 
draw them  from  the  wholesome  check  of  public  opinion 
on  their  conduct,  and  the  inevitable  effect  sooner  or  later 
would  be  demoralization. 

I  would  not  be  associated  with  any  number  of  men 
that  live  on  such  terms,  nor  trust  to  them  in  this  form 
the  keeping  of  my  conscience  :  the  most  sacred  institu- 
tions on  earth,  the  family  and  the  Church,  would  prove 
a  curse  if  such  were  the  conditions  of  their  existence. 

What,  then,  must  we  think  of  the  character  of  an 
institution  in  which  godless  rebels  like  Gen.  Albert 
Pike,  and  murderers  of  the  stamp  of  Gen.  Sickles,  are 
the  great  lights,  and  accepted  leaders.  "Will  not  every 
good  man  w7ho  reflects  say,  "  My  soul,  come  not  thou 
into  their  secret ;  unto  their  assembly,  mine  honor,  be 
not  thou  united  "  % 

The  crafty,  ambitious,  and  unprincipled  as  leaders,  the 
simple  as  followers,  a  sufficient  number  of  professors  of 
religion  for  decoy-ducks,  and  you  have  the  constitution 
of  the  lodges,  as  it  appears  to  my  mind. 

I  am  well  aware  that  Masonry  assumes  the  form  of  an 


31-4  FREEMASONRY. 

angel  of  light,  that  it  roars  you  as  gently  as  any  sucking- 
dove,  that  the  claws  are  carefully  concealed  beneath  the 
velvet  skin,  and  that  its  eyes  are  as  mild  as  those  of  a 
lamb. 

But  do  we  not  know,  that,  when  aroused,  it  longs  for 
blood,  that  those  gentle  tones  are  turned  to  the  ruthless 
growl  of  the  most  relentless  calumny  and  slander,  and 
that  those  mild  eyes  gleam  with  the  very  fires  of  hell  \ 

Not  a  week  has  passed  since  a  good  man  told  me  that 
when  a  boy  he  was  in  the  village  of  Caledonia,  N.Y. ; 
he  went  into  the  shop  of  a  respectable  carpenter  in  the 
village  ;  the  man  came  into  his  shop  ;  said  he,  "I  have 
just  now  seen  a  sight  that  made  my  blood  run  cold."  It 
was  Morgan  as  he  was  carried  away  to  his  imprisonment 
and  death,  —  a  crime  yet  unatoned  for  and  unrepented 
of,  and  chargeable  at  this  hour  upon  the  institution  of 
Masonry  in  these  United  States. 

There  is  a  legend  of  this  kind  prevalent  in  many 
countries  of  Europe :  When  a  knight  was  slain  in  the 
wars,  a  fiend  would  assume  his  form,  and  wear  his  armor; 
coming  to  his  domain,  the  deceived  ferryman  passed  him 
over  the  river ;  the  deceived  porter  opened  the  gate, 
servants  admitted  him  to  the  castle,  and  the  wife  believed 
him  to  be  her  returned  lord :  not  until  a  child  dead,  or 
some  other  horrible  calamity  fell  upon  the  house,  was  the 
deception  discovered,  and  the  fishy  eye  and  cloven  foot 
of  the  fiend  perceived.  A  Morgan  murder,  Masonic 
banners  borne  before  the  bloody  ranks  of  the  Commune 
in  Paris,  —  these  disclose  the  fiend. 

The  secrecy  of  any  combination  of  men  is  prima  facie 
evidence  that  their  purposes  arc  hostile  to  society,  and 
at  once  they  must  become  an  object  of  suspicion  to  their 


FREEMASONRY.  315 

fellow- men.  If  not,  why  secret?  Why  dig  deep  to 
hide  their  counsel  if  good?  The  associations  of  men 
which  are  beneficent,  arc  open  as  the  day:  they  come  to 
the  light,  that  their  deeds  may  be  made  manifest. 

That  these  organizations  have  consciously  an  object 
hostile  to  society,  we  do  not  affirm  ;  but  that  this  is  the 
tendency,  and  that  when  the  temptation  is  thrown  before 
their  masters,  they  will  turn  them  in  that  direction,  their 
general  character,  membership,  and  entire  conditions 
lead  us  to  suspect  and  believe.  Masonry  professed 
to  be  a  moral  institution,  and  also  religious.  That 
there  is  a  strange  mixing  and  mingling  of  the  sacred 
and  profane  in  the  ceremonies,  is  true,  and  one  of  the 
most  severe  of  the  charges  we  bring  against  it.  Head- 
ers of  Scotch  history  are  familiar  with  the  name  of 
Grahame  of  Claverhouse.  The  instrument  of  a  tyran- 
nical and  persecuting  government,  he  swept  over  the 
hills  of  Scotland  like  a  destructive  pestilence,  shooting 
down  the  best  and  truest  of  her  sons  as  remorselessly  as 
he  would  the  moor-fowl  of  her  wastes,  himself  ready  to 
perform  any  act  of  more  than  ardent  cruelty,  from  which 
even  his  hardened  followers  shrank.  A  writer  in  "  Black- 
wood "  a  few  years  ago  made  him  a  saint ;  and  the  proof 
of  it  was,  that  he  read  the  Bible  and  said  prayers  in  his 
family.  After  a  day  spent  in  blaspheming  and  murder, 
Claverhouse  sat  down  in  his  family  to  the  Bible  and 
prayers. 

This  exemplifies  my  conception  of  the  religion  of 
Masons :  it  attempts  to  sanctify  its  disrobing,  blindfold- 
ing, swearing,  and  horrible  profanities,  by  a  free  use  of 
the  Bible,  prayers,  and  moral  precepts. 

Masonry  profanes  the  body,  degrades  it  as  all  heathen 


316  FREEMASONRY. 

and  idolatrous  rites  do.  The  garb  in  which  a  candidate 
is  admitted  into  the  lodge,  is  one  in  which  no  self- 
respecting  person  would  ever  be  seen  among  his  fellow- 
men.  A  Mason  told  me,  that,  if  all  the  penalties  which 
he  had  imprecated  upon  himself  were  inflicted,  his  body 
would  be  annihilated.  To  imprecate  such  unnatural 
and  horrible  punishments  is  of  the  nature  of  suicide. 
It  is  putting  life  in  hazard  and  without  cause,  and  it  is 
of  the  nature  of  self-murder.  The  man  who,  for  the 
sake  of  notoriety,  stands  on  some  giddy  height,  walks 
the  tight-rope  across  the  chasm  of  Niagara,  or  attempts 
to  jump  from  Table  Rock  into  its  gorges,  does  not  so 
foolishly  nor  so  wickedly  expose  his  life  as  the  man  who 
takes  the  disembowelling,  throat-cutting  oaths  of  the 
Masonic  lodges.  These  oaths  bring  staggering  burdens 
upon  the  conscience ;  they  go  on  increasing  in  the  inten- 
sity of  their  imprecations,  until  at  length  eternal  damna- 
tion is  invoked;  and  in  one  degree,  prolific  in  these 
diabolical  incantations,  the  candidate,  drinking  from  a 
human  skull,  invokes  upon  himself  the  personal  punish- 
ment of  his  own  sins,  and  in  addition  the  sins  of  the 
person  whose  the  skull  was,  in  case  of  infidelity  to  these 
obligations,  or  a  double  damnation  provided  he  do  not 
faithfully  keep  these  unlawful  oaths. 

And  this  is  the  system  that  receives  the  sanction  of 
members  and  ministers  of  the  church,  which  "  The 
Independent "  calls  simply  a  raree-show  in  a  disguised 
attempt  to  conceal  its  own  subserviency  to  its  spirit, 
against  which  there  is  not,  so  far  as  I  know,  a  single 
newspaper  published  among  the  larger  Christian  denom- 
inations that  utters  any  faithful  testimony. 

It  has  sealed  the  pulpit  with  a  silence  deeper  than  the 


FREEMASONRY.  817 

grave,  and  threatened  us  with  its  vengeance  if  we  dare 
to  lift  our  voice  in  protest  against  its  injuries. 

"When  we  come  to  examine  the  Masonic  oaths,  it 
seems  impossible  to  restrain  the  temper,  so  as  not  to 
speak  words  unbecoming  to  Christian  calmness  and 
moderation. 

I  am  reminded  of  an  anecdote  of  the  eloquent  Scotch 
preacher  Guthrie.  On  a  certain  occasion  in  the  city  of 
Edinburgh,  he  said  the  charge  of  bad  temper  was  brought 
against  the  Abolitionists  of  America.  He  then  painted 
the  system  of  slavery  in  glowing  colors,  —  describing  its 
impieties,  cruelties,  and  outrages,  as  he  alone  could. 
Then,  bringing  down  his  foot  upon  the  platform,  he 
said,  "  I  would  not  give  a  feather  for  the  man  who 
could  keep  his  temper  when  speaking  upon  such  a  sub- 
ject." He  must  be  a  strongly  constituted  man  who  reads 
the  oaths  of  the  Masonic  ritual,  and  then  reflects  how 
many  are  deceived  into  these  hideous  bonds  by  design- 
ing knaves,  and  not  burn  with  a  holy  indignation. 

To  swear  that  you  will  keep  inviolate  the  secrets  of 
men  of  whom  you  know  nothing,  to  keep  secret  acts 
perpetrated  perhaps  thousands  of  miles  away,  although 
the  deed  might  make  your  blood  run  cold,  is  the  act  of 
a  fool.  To  swear  to  do  this  under  no  less  a  penalty 
than  to  have  your  throat  cut,  or  your  bowels  torn  out, 
or  your  skull  opened,  is  the  act  of  a  madman. 

"We  are  opposed  to  Freemasonry  because  of  the 
wicked  and  unholy  character  of  the  obligations  which 
those  who  associate  themselves  with  it  are  obliged  to 
take.  "We  affirm  in  regard  to  them,  without  fear  of 
contradiction,  that  they  arc  at  war  with  our  Christian 
religion,  and  at  war  with  our  social  and  political  institu- 


318  FREEMASONRY. 

tions.  It  is  a  matter  of  wonder  that  men  of  understand- 
ing can  take  upon  themselves  such  obligations  as  are 
taken  in  this  order.  J.  Q.  Adams  once  said  that  no 
decent  butcher  would  cut  up  a  hog  in  the  way  these 
oaths  provide  for  the  killing  of  a  man  for  a  violation  of 
his  Masonic  obligation.  The  State  and  Church  alone 
have  power  to  impose  oaths ;  and  when  these  societies 
administer  them,  they  usurp  functions  which  do  not 
belong  to  them,  and  are  guilty  of  impiety. 

A  great  mistake  is  entertained  very  generally  in  regard 
to  an  oath ;  that  is,  that  any  person  under  any  circum- 
stances, and  for  any  purpose,  may  apply  the  binding  obli- 
gation of  an  oath,  —  as,  for  instance,  that  persons  may 
bind  themselves  together  for  the  most  wicked  and  mis- 
chievous purposes,  as  firmly  as  the  husband  and  wife  are 
bound  by  the  marriage  bond  ;  that  the  pirate  captain  and 
his  crew  are  as  firmly  bound  together  by  it  as  the  mem- 
bers of  a  Commonwealth  and  their  ruler. 

This  is  a  very  great  and  very  dangerous  mistake. 
To  understand  this  matter  properly,  we  must  remember 
that  an  oath  is  a  divine  institution  or  ordinance,  and 
that  it  derives  all  its  solemnity  and  binding  force  from 
the  fact  that,  when  it  is  properly  administered,  God  him- 
self becomes  a  party  to  the  compact  which  it  is  intended 
to  seal.  The  whole  power  of  an  oath  consists  in  the 
certainty  that  God  will  punish  its  violation. 

"When  is  swearing  the  exemplification,  and  when  is  it 
the  profanation,  of  the  divine  ordinance  of  the  oath? 
I  answer,  when  it  is  taken  in  accordance  with  the  divine 
institution,  it  is  the  one  ;  when  otherwise,  it  is  the  other. 

No  organization  that  has  not  a  divine  institution,  and 
authority  from  God  to  make  him  a  party  to  its  forma- 


FREEMASONRY.  319 

tion,  has  any  right  to  use  his  name,  or  employ  an  oath, 
as  the  bond  of  its  existence.  Any  such  use  of  the  oath 
is  therefore  unwarranted,  and  consequently  a  prostitu- 
tion and  profanation,  not  a  proper  administration,  of  it ; 
and  consequently  the  sin  is  in  the  making,  not  the 
breaking,  of  it. 

Blackstone,  book  ix.  p.  137,  says,  "  The  law  takes  no 
notice  of  any  perjury  but  such  as  is  committed  in  some 
court  of  justice  having  power  to  administer  an  oath,  or 
before  some  magistrate,  or  proper  officer  invested  with 
similar  authority,  in  some  proceeding  relative  to  a  civic 
suit  or  criminal  prosecution." 

Dr.  Junkin  on  "  The  Oath,"  p.  193,  says,  "  Before  any 
association  of  men  should  dare  to  tender  the  oath,  they 
must  be  able  to  show  that  God  is  a  party  to  the  com- 
pact under  which  they  are  associated,  and  that,  by  virtue 
of  that  compact,  they  may  exercise  sovereign  authority. 
No  society  has  a  right  to  call  upon  God  to  be  a  party 
to  the  covenant  of  the  oath  until  they  show  that  they 
are  ordained  of  God."  But  this  no  merely  voluntary 
society  can  do.  And  we  therefore  conclude  that  all 
oaths  administered  by  the  authority  of  such  are  extra- 
judicial, and  an  abuse  of  the  ordinance. 

Masonry  is  nothing  but  a  system  of  imposture  from 
beginning  to  end.  It  claims  great  antiquity.  Yet,  as 
has  been  stated  by  the  gentleman  who  preceded  me,  it 
is  only  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  old. 
It  comprises  certain  rites  and  ceremonies  which  have 
been  introduced  into  it,  and  which  have  come  down 
from  antiquity,  which  are  as  old  as  the  oldest  pagan- 
isms. But  this  is  no  proof  of  the  antiquity  of  the  order. 
The  material  of  this  building  we  now  occupy  is  as  old 


320  FREEMASONRY. 

as  creation,  yet  in  its  present  form  it  is  new.  So  it  is 
with  Masonry.  It  is  a  new  institution  constructed  with 
old  materials.  It  is  neither  ancient  nor  old,  as  is  gener- 
ally claimed  by  its  advocates.  Masonry  is  also  a  very 
gross  mingling  of  sacred  and  profane  things,  of  Pagan 
worship  and  Christian  religion.  It  can  be  clearly 
shown  from  the  authenticated  publications  of  the  order, 
that  some  of  the  Masonic  ceremonies  are  taken  from 
the  vilest  rites  of  heathen  worship,  and  imposed  upon 
the  human  mind  as  something  of  value  and  importance. 
When  once  within  the  order,  it  is  hard  to  escape  from 
it,  as  has  been  time  and  time  again  asserted  by  the  few 
who  have  escaped.  We  charge  also  that  it  is  selfish 
from  first  to  last ;  and,  because  of  its  selfishness,  we  be- 
lieve it  unworthy  of  any  support.  Why  is  it  that  so 
many  of  our  young  men  enter  the  Masonic  order  \  Is 
there  one  here  to-night  who  is  a  Mason,  who  will  truth- 
fully answer  this  question  ?  Is  it  not  for  the  purpose  of 
advancing  their  social,  political,  or  business  success'? 
The  very  object  they  desire  to  accomplish  is  frequently 
defeated  by  the  very  measure  they  use.  And  I  say  that 
a  young  man  who  endeavors  by  the  aid  of  his  own  force 
and  intellect  and  determination  alone,  to  obtain  these 
ends,  is  much  more  certain  to  secure  them  in  that  way 
than  through  the  medium  of  Masonry,  which  is  thor- 
oughly selfish,  and  unworthy  our  support.  Let  the  young 
men  beware  of  this  selfish  alliance.  Let  young  men 
bravely  take  up  the  battle  of  life,  and  carve  their  own 
advancement  in  the  world. 

And  yet  Christian  congregations  will  not  listen  to  the 
gospel  preached  by  one  who  has  not  stooped  to  this 
wickedness,  or  who  will  not  bow  down  to  this  graven 


FREEMASONRY.  321 

image ;  and  churches  raise  to  the  highest  positions  in 
their  gift  the  men  who  are  steeped  to  the  lips  in  this 
impiety.  This  is  the  institution  which  has  coiled  itself 
around  the  church,  and  is  crushing  out  in  many  cases 
all  vital  piety. 

But  my  strongest  opposition  to  Masonry  is  because 
of  its  rivalry  with  religion.  It  steps  in  before  the 
church,  and  is  a  false  and  idolatrous  religion,  —  a 
religion  without  a  Saviour,  and  therefore  a  delusion 
and  a  snare  to  all  who  engage  in  it,  or  rest  their  hope 
upon  it. 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  pretension  of  Masonry  to 
be  a  saving  institution  ?  I  do  not  understand  how  it  is 
possible  for  a  man  to  be  a  Christian,  and  not  be  dis- 
gusted to  loathing  with  the  lingo  of  Masonry  about  fit- 
ting a  man  for  the  lodge  above,  nor,  indeed,  for  that 
matter,  for  a  man  of  sense  to  bear  the  frothy  inanities 
of  Masonic  literature. 

It  would  seem  as  if  men  could  hardly  have  fabricated 
a  system  that  would  have  been  more  directly  counter  to 
the  express  declarations  of  the  divine  "Word :  "  There 
is  none  other  name  given  under  heaven  among  men 
whereby  wTe  must  be  saved."  '•  No  man  cometh  unto 
the  Father  but  by  me ; "  and  yet  it  is  almost  universally 
accepted  among  Masons,  that,  if  they  live  up  to  the 
requirements  of  their  order,  by  so  doing  they  will  attain 
to  heavenly  blessedness.  AVith  them,  sir,  it  takes  the 
place  of  the  religion  of  Christ. 

But  what  do  we  hope  to  accomplish  by  opposing  this 
order  %  Why,  we  will  battle  for  the  right,  and  trust  to 
God  to  overthrow  the  wrong.  This  is  a  gigantic  system 
of  oppression.     The  end  of  it  will  come,  and  truth  and 


322  FREEMASOXRY. 

right  must  prevail.  We  know  in  our  heart  of  hearts 
that  these  associations  are  evil,  and  they  must  be  over- 
thrown. Free,  open,  and  candid  discussion  will  overthrow 
them,  or  cause  them  to  shrivel  into  insignificance ;  and 
this  is  what  is  needed  by  the  American  people. 


THEORIES   OF   EVOLUTION. 


The  theme  which  has  been  assigned  us  in  the  present 
course  of  lectures,  is  one  of  the  most  important  named 
for  discussion. 

It  indicates  that  we  have  to  do  with  theories,  not  with 
facts,  —  theories  which  are  in  no  sense  scientific,  except 
that  they  have  been  originated,  and  are  largely  held,  by 
certain  classes  of  scientific  men. 

The  subject  points  us  to  a  peculiar  but  potent  fact, 
that  many  of  the  devotees  of  science  in  our  day,  as  if 
weary  of  the  slow  and  toilsome  but  useful  principles  of 
observation,  investigation,  and  experiment,  have  fled 
to  the  cloud-land  of  speculation,  and  are  indulging  in 
hypotheses  and  dreams  as  wild  as  those  of  the  old 
astrologers  or  alchemists. 

"Weary  of  trudging  alone  the  paths  of  laborious  study 
on  the  solid  land,  they  ascend  like  aeronauts  to  the  skies, 
and  are  borne  hither  and  thither  by  every  wind  of  theory 
and  speculation  that  blows. 

This  has  been  observed  by  the  more  sober  and  cau- 
tious ;  and  an  earnest  attempt  is  made  to  bring  science 
down  from  these  cloudy  heights,  and  confine  her  once 
more  to  her  appropriate  and  noble  task  of  enlarging  the 
sum  of  useful  knowledge  by  earnest  work. 

We  must  have  noticed  a  very  false  impression  which 
has  been  made  to  some  extent  on  the  public  mind, — 

323 


324  EVOLUTION. 

namely,  that  the  theologians  and  the  men  who  give 
themselves  to  the  study  of  nature  are  arrayed  in  two 
hostile  armies,  and  are  waging  with  each  other  a  deadly 
and  irreconcilable  warfare  ;  that  between  that  queen  of 
science,  which  has  the  Word  of  God  for  its  subject,  and 
those  sciences  which  occupy  themselves  with  the  works 
of  God,  there  are  irrepressible  conflicts,  which  can  only 
end  in  the  destruction  of  one  or  the  other. 

This  impression  is  suggested  by  a  small  coterie  of 
infidels,  who,  in  their  eagerness  to  snatch  up  any  and 
every  weapon  available  against  Christianity,  betray  a 
much  greater  anxiety  to  break  away  from  the  bonds  of 
moral  obligation,  and  to  drive  God  from  the  universe, 
than  to  enlarge  the  bounds  of  knowledge,  and  advance 
science ;  but  it  is  wholly  false,  and  to  be  rejected  with 
scorn  and  contempt. 

We  call  upon  any  scientific  man  to  discover  any  new 
fact,  or  make  any  generalization  founded  on  a  sufficient 
inductive  basis,  and  we  pledge  ourselves  to  find  a  larger 
number  of  theologians  who  will  accept  it  as  true  than 
can  be  found  in  any  other  class  of  thinkers  whatever. 

Those  who  study  reverently  the  word  of  God  know 
that  it  bears  the  impress  of  divinity ;  they  know  as  well 
that  the  heavens  and  the  earth  are  the  works  of  his  own 
fingers,  and  that  what  he  has  traced  on  the  pages  of  the 
inspired  volume  he  will  not  contradict  in  the  volume  of 
creation. 

We  do  not  propose  to  place  ourselves  in  antagonism 
to  science,  nor  to  scientific  truth:  on  the  contrary,  we 
rejoice  in  all  that  modern  science  has  accomplished.  We 
hail  its  future  triumphs,  and  will  place  no  barriers  in 
the  paths  of  its  beneficent  progress. 


THEORIES  OF  EVOLUTION.  325 

"With  unsubstantial  and  unsubstantiated  theories,  which 
claim  a  prescriptive  right  as  against  the  truths  of  God's 
Word,  the  deepest  consciousness  of  the  race,  and  the 
established  facts  of  nature,  we  claim  the  right  to  deal, 
to  expose  their  fallacies,  point  out  their  dangerous  ten- 
dencies, and  warn  the  unwary  and  unsuspecting  against 
their  hasty  adoption. 

The  term  "  development  theories "  expresses  a  com- 
paratively recent  phase  of  speculation,  and  embraces  a 
large  number  of  hypotheses,  some  of  them  consistent 
and  reasonable,  others  antagonistic  and  irrational. 

If  by  development,  or  evolution,  which  is  now  the 
more  usual  word,  is  meant  that  the  idea  of  all  created 
things  existed  originally  in  the  Divine  Mind,  that  in  the 
realization  of  the  idea  in  objective  reality  God  has  pro- 
ceeded upon  a  preconceived  and  pre-ordained  method ; 
or,  in  other  words,  that  objective  creation  is  the  evolution 
of  an  eternal  plan,  —  then,  certainly,  to  this  hypothesis 
no  objection  can  be  taken. 

On  the  contrary,  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  most 
devout  view  that  we  can  take  of  God  and  his  works, 
that  all  which  we  see  in  the  starry  heavens  above  us,  in 
the  plants,  animals,  minerals  on  the  earth  beneath  us, 
is  the  unfolding  step  by  step  of  this  divine  and  eternal 
plan. 

When  Kepler  had  completed  one  of  his  most  magnifi- 
cent demonstrations,  he  wrote  on  the  manuscript  these 
words :  "  I  thank  thee,  O  God !  that  thou  hast  directed 
me  to  these ;  for,  while  I  pursue  them,  I  think  thy 
thoughts  after  thee  !  " 

With  any  development  doctrine  which  postulates  a 
Creator,  a  designing  Mind,  an  ever-present,  watchful,  and 


326  EVOLUTION. 

controlling  Providence,  we  have  no  controversy  at  present, 
only  with  those  which  attempt  to  ':  construct  the  universe 
with  Deity  left  out,  an  obligation  hanging  like  a  rope 
without  a  fastening,"  and  which  may,  therefore,  be  char- 
acterized as  atheistic  in  their  tendencies. 

The  interest  of  these  theories  centres  at  present  upon 
their  attempted  explanation  of  the  origin  of  species, 
plants  and  animals,  but  especially  that  of  man.  Was 
every  thing  created  by  God  after  its  kind,  as  the  Bible 
affirms,  and  the  ablest  and  most  reliable  scientific  men 
of  our  day  maintain  ?  or  have  species  originated  by  the 
operation  of  some  unknown  and  unknowable  force,  or 
from  influences  which  are  in  no  respect  distinguishable 
from  mere  chance  % 

"Was  man  with  his  erect  form,  his  lofty  intellect  and 
endowments,  his  moral  and  religious  faculties,  created 
in  the  image  of  God  in  knowledge,  righteousness,  and 
holiness  ?  or  is  he  merely  an  improved  brute,  the  lineal 
descendant —  and  I  use  Mr.  Darwin's  own  words  —  "  of 
a  hairy  quadruped  furnished  with  a  tail  and  pointed  ears, 
probably  arboreal  in  its  habits,  and  an  inhabitant  of  the 
Old  World  "  ? 

Such  is  the  question  presented,  and  the  mighty  issues 
involved  in  it  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  by  every  intelligent 
mind. 

These  theories  may  easily  be  presented  by  referring 
them  to  their  more  prominent  advocates. 

Species  originate  in  the  operation  of  a  force  which  is 
a  mode  of  the  unknowable,  is  the  theory  of  Herbert 
Spencer.  They  originate  in  purely  physical  causes,  by 
a  process  which  may  be  termed  "  natural  selection,"  or 
"  the  survival  of  the  fittest,"  carried  forward  by  insen- 


THEORIES  OF  EVOLUTION.  327 

sible  gradations  through  some  thousands  of  millions  of 
ages,  is  the  theory  of  Darwin.  Huxley  agrees,  except 
that  he  substitutes  occasional  long  and  sudden  leaps  for 
the  gradual  variations  of  Darwin.  "Wallace  agrees  with 
Darwin,  with  the  important  exception  that  he  excludes 
man  from  the  process. 

Another  class  of  scientific  men  holds  that  species  have 
been  developed  by  an  internal  force  operating  through 
indefinite  ages,  and  conditioned  by  external  circum- 
stances. Of  this  latter  class,  Lamarck,  a  naturalist  of 
the  last  century,  stands  at  the  head  ;  wrhile,  within  the  last 
ten  years,  it  has  been  presented  ably  by  Sir  George 
Mivart,  a  theist  and  Roman  Catholic,  and  a  naturalist 
of  England;  it  differs  from  the  theory  of  Darwin  by 
postulating  an  internal  tendency,  and,  as  presented  by 
Mivart,  demanding  an  additional  cause,  which  he  docs 
not  define,  to  complete  the  process. 

Of  these  various  forms  of  development  theories,  that 
of  Darwin  is  the  most  prominent,  has  been  the  most 
widely  accepted,  has  been  brought  out  by  its  author  in 
the  use  of  the  widest  range  of  knowledge  of  natural 
phenomena,  and  is  the  one  which  gives  vitality  to  all  the 
rest,  on  which  they  seem  to  hang  as  parasites,  and  in 
whose  destruction  they  will  find  their  own  death. 

That  we  should  go  into  an  examination  of  all  these 
varied  theories,  is,  we  suppose,  not  expected.  We  shall 
confine  ourselves  to  arguments  against  any  theory  of 
development  which  holds  that  all  which  we  see  is  the 
result  of  natural  causes,  and  seeks  to  banish  God  from 
the  universe  which  he  has  made,  —  which  seeks  to  con- 
struct a  universe  without  a  Creator.  "With  every  scien- 
tific man  who  holds  a  theory  of  evolution  in  harmony 


328  EVOLUTION. 

with  theistic  principles  and  the  word  of  God,  if  there  be 
such  a  one,  —  and  we  do  not  deny  its  possibility,  —  we 
again  declare  that  we  have  no  controversy.        „ 

Our  argument  must  be  against  those  who  deny  the 
interposition  of  Deity,  and  declare  it  unscientific  to  pos- 
tulate a  Creator. 

I.  Xo  theory  of  evolution  can  account  for  the  origin 
of  things.  The  Bible  declares  in  words  as  simple  as 
sublime,  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth."  This  one  sentence  in  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  Scriptures  contradicts  directly  or  impliedly 
every  form  of  atheism  and  infidelity  rife  in  this  age. 
All  atheism  is  confronted  by  it,  for  it  declares  the  being 
of  a  God  ;  and  all  materialism,  for  it  affirms  that  the  uni- 
verse had  a  beginning,  and  that  matter  is  not  eternal. 
The  explanation  of  the  origin  of  all  things,  given  us  by 
the  Scriptures,  is,  that,  at  the  fiat  of  God,  all  things 
began  to  exist,  "  sprang  forth  from  the  void  and  formless 
infinity,"  simply  by  the  word  of  his  power.  No  matter 
how  far  back  in  time  the  evolutionist  may  carry  his 
theory,  he  reaches  a  beginning,  as  much  a  beginning  if 
of  billions  of  ages  ago  as  if  but  of  six  thousand,  and  pre- 
senting a  barrier  as  impassable  in  the  one  case  as  in  the 
other.  We  may  accept,  without  any  violation  done  to 
faith,  the  wonderful  nebular  hypothesis  of  Laplace : 
we  may  go  back  beyond  the  geological  epochs  to  the 
primitive  star-dust  and  the  whirling  atoms  of  the  pri- 
meval chaos.  We  may  gaze  in  admiration  on  that 
scene  where,  in  the  language  of  Whewell,  our  world  and 
its  sister  planets  "flew  like  sparks  from  the  awful  anvil 
of  the  Great  Architect  when  the  solar  system  lay  hot 
and  incandescent  thereon."     Have  wc  therefore  got  rid 


THEORIES  OF  EVOLUTIOX.  329 

of  the  idea  of  creation  \  "Who  made  the  star-dust  ? 
Whence  came  the  incandescent  vapor  that  has  cooled 
and  hardened  into  compact  worlds'?  "Whose  wisdom 
planned,  and  whose  watchful  eye  guarded,  and  whose 
omnipotence  guided,  the  stupendous  process  as  it  went 
forward  to  its  ultimate  result  in  the  completion  of  sys- 
tems like  that  to  which  our  world  belongs  ? 

We  do  not  delay  to  argue  that  matter  is  not  eternal. 
The  series  of  changes  through  which  science  demon- 
strates that  our  earth  and  system  have  passed,  points  to 
a  beginning :  the  human  mind,  in  one  of  the  most  fun- 
damental of  its  laws,  demands  a  cause  for  that  which 
exists,  and  refuses  to  pause  at  the  command  of  ignorance, 
nor  rest  until  the  barrier  has  been  passed,  and  an  ade- 
quate cause  has  been  found. 

Force  is  the  world  with  which  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer 
and  his  school  conjure  ;  force  is  sufficient  to  account  for 
all,  doubtless ;  but  what  is  force,  we  ask  \  We  know 
nothing  of  force  but  as  an  attribute  of  mind :  so  that 
existent  matter,  whether  as  a  form  of  force,  or  as  the 
subject  in  which  forces  inhere  ;  and  force,  whether  sep- 
arable from  matter,  or  as  an  inseparable  concomitant  of 
matter,  —  equally  demand  the  prior  existence  of  spirit. 
So  that  we  are  driven  by  the  very  laws  of  thought  them- 
selves to  the  theistic  view  of  the  origin  of  all  things 
and  to  the  explanation  of  the  inspired  Word.  "  In  the 
beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth." 

Besides,  what  sort  of  force  must  this  be  that  has 
cooled  the  earth  and  solar  system  out  of  the  primeval 
star-dust  %  Relatively,  at  least,  it  must  have  been  om- 
nipotent. The  force  that  has  produced  such  marvellous 
results  that  all  the  human  family  that  have  ever  observed 


330  EVOLUTION. 

them,  save  a  few  philosophers  of  ancient  and  modern 
time,  have  seen  in  them  the  evidence  of  foresight  and 
design,  must  have  been  omniscient.  And  the  results  of 
all  leave  such  marks  of  beneficence  that  only  an  insane 
pessimist  philosopher  can  fail  to  discover  them,  indi- 
cate a  force  as  good  as  it  is  wise  and  powerful.  How 
far  does  such  a  force  differ  from  the  God  of  the  Bible, 
the  Creator,  Upholder,  and  Preserver  of  all  things? 
But  the  first  prime  miracle  of  creation  accepted,  all  is 
easy. 

II.  No  theory  of  mere  development  can  account  for 
the  introduction  of  life  into  our  earth.  Suppose  the 
doctrine  of  evolution  partially  true,  whence  came  the 
first  life  of  plant  or  of  animal  ?  Of  Huxley's  protoplasm, 
it  seems  wonderful  that  it  should  ever  have  done  more 
than  to  excite  a  smile.  It  has  been  laughed  out  of  ex- 
istence. Mr.  Darwin,  with  what  seems  to  us  an  incon- 
sistency fatal  to  his  entire  scheme,  admits  the  existence 
of  at  least  one  primordial  germ ;  but,  having  called  in 
some  sort  of  creator  to  produce  this  one  living  germ,  he 
permits  him  to  retire,  and  explains  all  else  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  "  Natural  Selection,"  or  "  The  Survival  of  the 
Fittest."  It  is  not  necessary  to  call  Darwin  an  atheist : 
it  is  only  necessary  to  endeavor  to  obtain  a  correct  idea  of 
his  theory,  and  mark  its  tendency.  After  reading  with 
some  thought  what  has  been  written  upon  the  subject, 
we  must  agree  that  the  tendency  of  Darwinism,  notwith- 
standing the  admission  to  which  I  have  referred,  is 
atheistic.  The  theory  which  postulates  one,  or  even 
more,  living  germs,  and  then  attributes  the  whole  pro- 
cess by  which  the  world  of  infinite  series,  and  marvellous 
adaptations   of  means  to   an  end,  is  produced,  to  the 


THEORIES  OF  EVOLUTION.  331 

operation  of  mere  chance,  must  be  declared  atheistic,  or 
otherwise  the  word  has  no  meaning. 

The  man  who  sees  the  finger  of  God  nowhere  in  all 
his  works,  and  exerts  his  utmost  power  to  persuade 
others  that  he  is  nowhere  to  be  found,  may  call  himself 
what  he  chooses ;  and  we  will  not  dispute  with  him,  but 
we  must  tell  him  to  his  beard  that  his  doctrines  are 
atheistic. 

But  has  Mr.  Darwin,  postulating  one  or  more  primor- 
dial germs  taken  out  from  this  beginning,  a  consistent 
theory  of  the  origin  of  life  upon  our  planet  ?  To  this, 
if  we  are  to  follow  our  own  common  sense  and  the  high- 
est scientific  authority,  we  must  give  a  decided  negative. 
Agassiz,  of  our  own  country,  rejected  it  with  contempt, 
as  his  great  master,  Cuvier,  had  rejected  before  and 
demolished  the  theory  of  Mr.  Darwin's  predecessor, 
Lamarck.  Sir  William  Thompson  presented  to  the 
British  Association,  and  published  to  the  world  several 
years  afterward,  a  demonstration  with  which  no  Darwinian 
has  ever  attempted  to  grapple,  as  to  the  age  of  our 
world ;  fatal,  in  fact,  to  the  theory  of  Darwin. 

The  Academy  of  France  refused  to  elect  him,  even  as 
an  honorary  member ;  and  her  most  distinguished  men 
have  rejected  his  theory  as  untenable. 

Barronde  of  Russia,  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  living 
palaeontologists,  whose  studies  have  led  him  precisely 
into  those  fields  which  give  him  the  best  opportunity  for 
testing  the  theories  of  Darwin,  has  entered  the  lists,  and 
presents  such  an  array  of  facts  against  it  that  he  feels 
warranted  in  pronouncing  it  a  figment  of  the  imagina- 
tion. 

Indeed,  already  the  tide  that  seemed  to  set  so  strongly 


332  EVOLUTION. 

in  its  favor  begins  to  ebb ;  the  theory  already  shows  symp- 
toms of  decay ;  and  there  is  not,  perhaps,  at  this  hour,  a 
scientific  man,  possibly  not  even  Darwin  himself,  who 
would  commit  himself  to  the  theory  without  such  modi- 
fications as  amount  to  a  vital  annihilation  of  its  funda- 
mental principles. 

Time  would  fail  to  enumerate  and  discuss  the  various 
theories  of  evolutionists  who  endeavor  to  account  for 
life  without  the  interposition  of  the  Creator.  Much  of 
it  is  an  unintelligible  jargon,  which  even  those  who 
employ  it  do  not  understand. 

The  theory  which  has  gained  the  widest  notoriety,  is 
that  of  spontaneous  generation.  The  old  alchemists 
never  searched  more  laboriously  and  anxiously  for  the 
philosopher's  stone  or  the  elixir  of  life,  than  the  devotees 
of  development  labor  to  produce  life  from  inorganic  mat- 
ter. Several  times  has  the  discovery  been  heralded; 
but  whether  it  be  that  death  loves  a  shining  mark,  or 
from  whatever  cause,  certain  it  is  that  these  parentless 
children  die  young,  —  even  before  the  world  has  been 
certified  of  their  existence. 

Huxley  believes  in  spontaneous  generation  as  a  matter 
of  scientific  faith,  whatever  that  may  be,  but  admits  that 
all  experiments  in  that  direction  are  a  disastrous  failure. 

But  suppose  these  experiments  shall  succeed,  then  it 
would  be  shown  that  there  was  such  an  arrangement  in 
the  combination  of  that  matter  which  had  produced  life, 
as  demands  intelligence,  foresight,  and  will ;  and,  instead 
of  having  removed  God  farther  off,  we  should  only  have 
brought  him  a  little  nearer,  and  would  look  upon  this 
existence  as  emerging  from  the  abyss  of  death  into 
life,  with  somewhat  of  the  same  wonder  with  which 


THEORIES  OF  EVOLUTION.  333 

the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  the  sons  of  God 
shontcd  for  joy  at  the  creation  of  the  world. 

III.  Development  does  not  account  for  the  different 
species  of  plants  and  animals.  It  would  indeed  seem 
that  no  refutation  was  necessary  of  a  theory  which 
declares  that  the  whole  organized  creation,  from  the 
lowest  order  of  plant  to  man,  the  highest  order  of  ani- 
mal, had  all  originated  in  one  germ  containing  in  it  the 
principle  of  life.  Nor  does  it  seem  to  relieve  the  diffi- 
culty to  increase  this  number  of  germs  to  three  or  four. 
Still  the  mind  rebels  against  a  presumption  so  violent, 
and  demands  proof.  That  the  advocates  of  these  theo- 
ries have  nothing  to  say  in  their  favor,  would  not  be  in 
accordance  with  facts.  They  have  much  to  say,  and 
much  that  is  ingenious  and  plausible. 

They  point  us  to  the  great  varieties  that  we  every- 
where see  in  the  individuals  of  the  same  species  of  men 
and  domestic  animals  and  fowls ;  many  of  these  varieties 
having  originated  in  the  efforts  of  men,  being  the  direct 
result  of  human  agency. 

And  the  question  is  asked,  if  such  results  have  been 
produced  in  a  comparatively  short  period  by  the  agency 
of  man,  may  not  all  this  diversity  which  we  witness 
have  been  produced  in  the  long  periods  to  which  geology 
points,  by  the  operation  of  causes  which  we  observe  to 
have  a  tendency  in  the  same  direction  \  But  the  prin- 
ciples of  embryology  demonstrate  that  it  is  an  impossi- 
bility in  nature  that  one  species  can  ever  pass  into 
another ;  that  the  God  of  nature  has  so  settled  the  char- 
acters of  each  species  back  in  the  remote  depths  of  its 
origin,  beyond  the  intervention  of  man  or  other  agency, 
that  like  must  produce  its  like. 


334  EVOLUTION. 

"When  we  make  our  appeal  to  history,  the  Egyptian 
monuments  carry  us  back  at  least  four  thousand  years ; 
and  yet  in  all  this  period,  there  is  not  only  no  passage 
of  one  species  to  another,  but  we  find  the  species  of 
men,  dogs,  cats,  oxen,  horses,  birds,  and  wild  beasts,  as 
they  are  to-day.  Variations  might  be  seen,  but  no  pas- 
sage from  one  species  to  another,  and  no  threat  of  any 
departure  from  the  fundamental  type. 

We  have  a  much  older  record,  —  that  of  the  rocks. 
Plow  old  this  record  is,  we  need  not  determine.  It  is 
enough  that  evolutionists  claim  for  it  an  indefinite  age, 
and  reckon  its  years  by  numbers  so  great,  that  they 
cease  to  have  any  significance  for  the  human  mind. 

What  is  the  testimony  of  the  rocks'?  In  them  we 
find  embedded  the  remains  of  many  thousands  of  plants 
and  animals ;  and  among  these  we  find  the  same  varie- 
ties, within  certain  prescribed  limits,  that  we  find  on  the 
earth,  but  also  the  same  immutability  of  species. 

Whole  families  of  animals  are  found  as  sharply  de- 
fined as  they  are  to-day,  and  not  one  intermediate  link. 
Again  and  again  some  obscure  fact  has  been  brought 
forward ;  but,  when  carefully  examined,  it  has  failed  to 
support  the  hypothesis,  and  the  chasm  yawns  as  widely 
as  ever. 

Another  fact  which  works  against  the  theory  of  devel- 
opment, is  that  the  highest  specimens  of  a  type  appear 
first,  and  a  lower  type  succeeds ;  whereas  the  reverse 
should  be  the  case  if  the  theory  were  true. 

As  regards  man,  there  is  no  evidence  of  his  affinity 
to  any  animal  that  does  or  ever  did  exist.  We  have 
heard  Aggasiz  demonstrate  the  difference  between  him 
and  the  monkey  to  be  as  great  as  between  him  and  the 


THEORIES  OF  EVOLUTION-.  335 

other  species  of  mammals ;  and  a  palaeontologist  of  the 
British  Museum  shows  that  he  is  really  more  nearly 
allied  in  physical  structure  to  our  own  black  bear,  than 
to  the  highest  type  of  monkeys. 

IV.  Mere  development  cannot  account  for  many  of 
the  most  interesting  and  striking  phenomena  of  nature. 

Can  any  one  see  by  what  process  of  development,  by 
what  law  of  natural  selection,  the  common  honey-bee, 
the  offspring  of  parents  neither  of  whom  is  industrious, 
should  necessarily  be  the  most  active  and  industrious  of 
all  insects  %  For  the  young  of  some  species  of  animals 
special  provision  is  made,  independent  in  every  way  of 
the  volition  of  the  parent,  and  without  which  the  young 
must  perish. 

Besides,  there  are  complicated  and  simultaneous  adap- 
tations which  are  necessary  to  the  existence  of  certain 
structures,  which  can  never  be  accounted  for  on  any  other 
principle  than  on  the  hypothesis  of  a  designing  mind. 

Mr.  Darwin  himself  furnishes  a  fine  illustration  in  a 
species  of  orchid,  in  which  the  plant  is  thus  formed. 
One  portion  of  it  is  in  the  form  of  a  pitcher,  which 
catches  and  retains  the  water,  which  is  caught  and 
poured  into  it  by  two  water-secreting  horns.  The  ex- 
cess of  water  is  carried  away  by  a  spout  with  which  the 
pitcher  of  the  plant  is  furnished.  Now  the  bees  visit 
this  plant,  and  fall  into  the  water ;  the  plant  being  so 
arranged  that  the  back  of  the  bee,  as  it  makes  its  escape 
by  the  spout,  must  come  in  contact  with  the  pollen  of 
the  plant.  This  it  bears  with  it  to  the  next  plant,  and 
fertilizes  it  with  the  pollen  borne  from  the  first. 

Why,  if  all  things  have  come  from  one  or  two  germs, 
do  we  find  such  varieties  ever  in  similar  circumstances  \ 


336  EVOLUTION. 

Or  take  such  complex  organs  as  the  eye  or  the  ear, 
and  it  is  simply  marvellous  that  any  one  can  suppose 
them,  and  especially  in  their  correlation  with  other 
forms,  to  seem  caused  by  mere  chance. 

One  becomes  weary  of  refuting  such  conjectures ;  and 
we  return  delighted  to  the  words  of  the  inspired  pen- 
man, "  Earth  is  full  of  Thy  riches." 

V.  With  this  we  close  our  present  sketch  :  no  devel- 
opment theory  can  account  for  the  higher  forms  of  the 
human  mind. 

There  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  between  man  and  the 
brute,  which  can  never  be  bridged  by  any  theory  of 
development  or  evolution. 

The  attempt  to  drive  God  from  his  works  must  always 
end  in  the  degradation  of  man.  Let  the  degrading  phi- 
losophy go  on  until  man  is  convinced  that  he  is  only  a 
superior  brute,  and  nothing  but  the  irresistible  force  of 
the  nature  that  God  has  given  him  can  prevent  him 
from  acting  like  a  brute. 

Then  may  his  motto  be,  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to- 
morrow we  die."  But  who  can  endure  the  insane  phi- 
losophy? Man  with  his  erect  countenance,  with  his 
power  to  know  God,  and  to  know  him  aright,  to  weigh 
the  mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills  in  a  balance,  with 
his  power  to  .place  himself  yonder  where  fields  of  light 
and  liquid  ether  flow,  with  his  thoughts  that  wander 
through  eternity,  is  a  son  of  God,  of  the  fellowship  of 
the  holy  ones. 


SAVE   THE   YOUTH.1 


The  religion  of  Christ  is  an  aggressive  power.  With 
weapons  which  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through  God 
to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds,  it  advances  to  the 
conquest  of  the  world.  Its  open,  avowed,  determined 
purpose  is  the  utter  annihilation  of  the  kingdom  of 
Satan,  and  the  universal  establishment  of  the  kingdom 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "  For  this  purpose  the  Son  of 
God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works 
of  the  Devil."  Christianity  is  engaged  in  a  conflict  that 
knows  neither  truce  nor  compromise  with  all  those  dire 
forms  of  evil  that  oppress  and  curse  our  fallen  humanity. 
In  this  conflict  every  Christian  is  an  enlisted  soldier. 
By  his  profession  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  he  has  taken 
his  place  in  this  great  army  whose  "  drum-beat  is  heard 
around  the  world,"  and  whose  banner  now  floats  upon 
every  shore.  This  Association,  which  celebrates  its 
anniversary  to-night,  is  one  of  this  embattled  host, 
organized  for  a  special  work;  viz.,  to  confront  and 
oppose  and  counteract  those  evil  influences  to  which 
young  men  are  eminently  exposed  in  a  great  city.  I 
shall  not  occupy  any  portion  of  your  time  in  defending 
"Young  Men's  Christian  Associations."     The  time  for 

1  Address  delivered  at  the  anniversary  meeting  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  of  Tittsburg,  1377. 

337 


338  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

such  defence  has  passed :  they  do  not  require  it,  either 
at  my  hand  or  that  of  any  other.  Let  us  look  at  a  few 
points  which  entitle  this  and  kindred  associations  to  the 
sympathy,  support,  and  prayers  of  Christian  people. 

I.  The  work  of  this  Association  is  pre-eminently 
religious  in  its  character.  Its  primary  and  chief  pur- 
pose is  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  men.  This  is  the 
purpose  which  brought  the  Son  of  God  from  heaven  to 
earth,  and  is  that  proposed  in  all  that  divinely  revealed 
plan  of  redemption  of  which  Christ  is  the  Alpha  and 
Omega,  the  first  and  the  last,  the  beginning  and  the 
end.  For  the  accomplishment  of  this  end,  "  God  spared 
not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  unto  the  death 
for  us  all."  "  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  belie veth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  This, 
then,  is  the  highest  object  which  even  the  Son  of  God 
could  set  before  himself,  a  work  in  which  he  glorified 
his  Father,  won  the  crown  of  universal  dominion,  and 
will  receive  the  gratitude  of  redeemed  millions  and  the 
worship  of  adoring  angels  throughout  eternity.  What 
is  a  "  Young  Men's  Christian  Association "  \  Young 
men  —  Christian  young  men  —  banded  together,  united, 
organized,  that  they  may  the  more  effectively  fulfil  their 
Christian  obligations  as  co-workers  with  God  in  the  re- 
demption of  lost  souls ;  not  outside  of  the  church,  but 
in  the  church  ;  not  in  any  sense  as  rivals  of  the  Church, 
but  the  Church  herself,  through  this  agency,  doing  the 
work  assigned  her  by  the  Master  in  this  great  field,  — 
the  world  of  perishing  men.  Where  can  we  see  the 
command,  "  Son,  go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard,"  more 
beautifully  exemplified  than  in  these  bands  of  Christian 


SAVE  THE  YOUTH.  330 

young  men,  "true  sons  of  God,"  going  out  "into  the 
highways  and  hedges,"  the  streets  and  alleys  of  these 
great  cities,  and  compelling  them  to  come  in?  The  end, 
however,  must  not  only  be  good,  but  the  means  em- 
ployed must  be  of  the  right  character.  The  saddest 
page  in  Church  history  is  that  which  records  the  intro- 
duction of  great  masses  of  baptized  heathen  into  the 
Church.  From  that  fountain  flowed  those  bitter  waters 
of  corruption  in  doctrine,  worship,  and  practice  that 
well-nigh  extinguished  the  light  of  true  religion  for  a 
thousand  years.  If  to-night  I  should  raise  a  warning 
voice  against  any  danger,  it  would  be  that  which  is  now 
lifting  its  head  in  some  quarters,  —  religion  made  easy  — 
a  short  road  to  heaven  —  a  system  which  would  per- 
suade men  that  they  are  converted  while  they  are  yet 
strangers  to  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  their  hearts ; 
that  a  feeble  desire  for  salvation  is  true  faith,  and  that 
their  own  belief  that. they  are  saved  secures  for  them 
perfect  sanctification  and  a  sinless  life  ;  that  their  strug- 
gles are  at  once  ended,  their  warfare  accomplished,  and 
the  victory  won.  We  hear  much  from  this  school  of 
getting  out  of  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans.  When 
a  man  gets  out  of  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans,  he 
had  better  at  once  get  into  heaven;  or  otherwise  he  will. 
in  our  opinion,  drift  very  rapidly  in  the  other  direction. 
The  moment  we  cease  to  watch  and  strive  against  sin, 
we  are  liable  to  fall  into  the  snare  of  the  Devil. 

The  work  of  this  Association  is  carried  forward  by 
the  divinely  appointed  means,  the  careful  study  of  God's 
Word,  prayer,  earnest  Christian  exhortation  in  connec- 
tion with  those  kindly  sympathies  and  beneficent  minis- 
trations in  which  pure  and  undefiled  religion,  practically 


340  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

exemplified,  consists.  These  are  the  weapons  of  the 
Christian  warfare  —  weapons  of  heavenly  mould  and 
temper  —  mighty  to  pull  down  strongholds,  to  pierce 
the  joints  of  the  harness,  to  bring  stubborn  wills  into 
captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ. 

II.  This  Association  is  a  practical  and  impressive 
exemplification  of  vital  Christianity.  Faith  in  Christ  is 
the  central  doctrine  of  all  true  religion.  "  He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  It  is  true 
that  we  are  saved  by  faith  alone,  but  equally  true  that 
we  are  not  saved  by  a  faith  which  is  alone.  "  Shew  me 
thy  faith  without  thy  works,  and  I  will  shew  thee  my 
faith  by  my  works."  Faith  is  the  root,  but  works  are 
the  fruit  of  a  Christian  profession.  It  is  not  true  that 
men  care  little  for  doctrine,  but  much  for  practice ;  they 
care  little  for  doctrine  professed  without  the  practice ; 
all  healthy  minds  care  much  for  both  doctrine  and  prac- 
tice. "  Take  heed  unto  thyself  and  unto  the  doctrine," 
is  the  apostolic  injunction.  To  be  indifferent  to  doctrine, 
is  to  be  indifferent  to  the  truth  of  God's  Word ;  for  that 
truth  is  the  support  and  guide  of  all  practical  religion. 
These  two  have  been  united  in  indissoluble  wedlock  by 
God  himself;  they  cannot  be  separated:  they  act  and 
re-act  upon  one  another.  Study  of  the  Scriptures  impels 
to  Christian  activity,  and  this  leads  in  turn  to  ardent 
desire  for  the  enlightening  and  strengthening  power  of 
divine  truth.  We  do  need,  however,  to  realize  more  and 
more  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  a  body  organized  for 
work.  It  is  the  depository  of  Divine  truth,  but  is  much 
more, — the  agency,  viz.,  to  take  that  truth,  that  incor- 
rupt i  1)1  e  seed,  and  scatter  it  broadcast  in  all  fields. 
The  design  of  the  Church  is  not  realized  in  the  com- 


SAVE   THE  YOUTH.  341 

munion  of  saints,  but  in  doing  good  to  all  men ;  and 
hence  every  effort  which  is  put  forth  in  that  direction  is 
in  the  line  of  the  end  for  which  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
is  organized.  Every  Christian  should  be  a  power,  a 
living,  acting  force  in  the  work  of  saving  souls  and  the 
regeneration  of  the  world :  for  this  purpose  is  the  Holy 
Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven;  the  Church  endued 
with  power  from  on  High.  The  grand  exemplification 
of  the  undecayed  and  undecaying  power  of  Christianity 
in  this  age  is  found  in  missionary  societies,  sabbath  schools, 
Bible  societies,  temperance  societies,  and  other  great  re- 
formatory movements  designed  to  rescue  the  falling  and 
the  fallen,  or  to  stem  those  evils  which  come  rolling  in 
like  a  flood  upon  society.  These  are  organized  forces 
going  forth  from  the  Church  under  the  impulse  of  that 
divine  power  that  flows  down  to  her  from  her  exalted 
Head,  to  do  battle  for  the  Lord  and  his  anointed  in  the 
warfare  with  the  armies  of  the  aliens. 

The  Church  is  clothed  with  the  very  might  of  omnipo- 
tence. Oh  that  she  would  no  longer  tarry  in  her 
tents,  but  go  forth,  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  the  power 
of  his  might,  to  wage  one  wide,  universal,  and  final 
conflict  with  the  powers  of  darkness  !  "  Where  is  the 
Lord  God  of  Elijah"?"  Is  his  hand  shortened  that  it 
cannot  save?  Is  his  ear  heavy  that  it  cannot  hear"? 
"Awake,  awake,  O  arm  of  the  Lord!  as  in  the 
ancient  days,  in  the  generations  of  old !  "  "  Thou 
beloved,  whither  hast  thou  withdrawn  thyself? "  "  Come 
forth  from  thy  royal  chambers,  thou  Prince  of  the  kings 
of  all  the  earth !  "  "  Gird  thy  sword  upon  thy  thigh, 
O  most  mighty  !  ride  prosperously  because  of  meekness, 
truth,   and   righteousness ! "     And,    oh,   ye    everlasting 


342  YOUNG-  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

gates,  be  ye  lifted  up,  that  the  King  of  glory  may  come 
forth,  while  the  armies  that  are  in  heaven  follow  him  to 
complete  the  subjugation  of  his  kingdom,  and  pour  the 
tide  of  glory  round  and  round  our  world! 

III.  An  additional  interest  attaches  to  this  Association 
from  the  class  to  which  its  efforts  are  specially  directed. 
The  soul  of  a  young  man  is,  in  God's  sight,  of  no  more 
value  than  the  soul  of  the  patriarch  hoary  with  years, 
or  the  soul  of  the  infant  of  days.  All  souls  are  precious 
to  him :  they  are  regarded  by  him  without  discrimina- 
tion. He  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  As  a  unit,  how- 
ever, in  the  social  body,  as  a  factor  in  the  forces  that 
shape  the  present  and  control  the  future,  the  young 
man  occupies  the  higher  and  most  important  position. 
Much  of  the  best  as  well  as  some  of  the  worst  work 
which  has  been  done  in  the  world  has  been  done  by 
young  men.  Apart  from  this  they  are  soon  to  be 
mature  men :  what  they  are  as  young  men,  that  they 
will  be  when  they  reach  the  perfection  of  their  powers. 
The  burden  of  all  great  affairs  in  Church  and  State, 
in  education,  trade,  and  commerce,  must,  sooner  or  later, 
rest  upon  them  ;  and  in  these  interests  all  the  interests 
of  society  are  involved.  According  as  these  are  wisely 
organized  and  wisely  conducted,  is  a  people  great,  pros- 
perous, and  happy,  or  depressed,  degraded,  and  wretched. 
Revolution,  bloodshed,  crime,  poverty,  anarchy,  and 
slavery  are  the  doom  of  a  nation  which  commits  its 
interests  to  the  hands  of  the  irreligious,  the  dishonest, 
and  the  depraved.  Every  consideration  of  interest, 
patriotism,  and  religion  calls  upon  us  to  employ  all 
means  at  our  command  to  save  our  young  men  from  the 
contamination  of  vicious  principles  and  practices. 


SAVE   THE  YOUTH.  343 

\Ve  must  remember  that  it  should  not  be  our  aim 
merely  to  rescue  them  from  the  fascinations  of  vice,  but 
at  the  same  time  to  instil  into  them  high  moral  and 
religious  principles.  A  man  need  not  become  a  tramp, 
or  a  drunkard,  or  a  criminal,  in  order  to  be  a  dangerous 
member  of  society.  Bad  principles  are  as  dangerous  as 
bad  morals,  and  for  the  most  part  precede  them :  hence, 
whatever  elevates  the  moral  convictions  of  young  men 
is  a  boon  to  society. 

No  thoughtful  observer  of  his  times  can  fail  to  see 
that  most  alarming  symptoms  are  appearing  in  Amer- 
ican society,  and  that  there  is  imminent  danger  lest, 
"  rotten  before  we  are  ripe,"  we  go  down  into  that 
"  night  of  ages "  from  which  no  empire  has  ever 
emerged.  It  is  madness  to  permit  ourselves  to  be 
longer  charmed  by  the  siren  voices  of  delusive  and  im- 
aginary hopes.  AVe  must  gird  ourselves  for  a  struggle 
with  these  satanic  foes  that  threaten  the  perpetuity  of 
our  institutions  —  the  serpents  which  threaten  to  de- 
stroy us  in  the  very  cradle  of  our  national  existence. 
If  we  do  not,  Hercules-like,  strangle  them,  they  will 
strangle  us. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  Christianity  of  this  age  lacks 
courage,  boldness,  aggressiveness,  true  Christian  heroism, 
and  that  it  requires  the  infusion  of  all  these  elements  : 
wickedness  presumes  upon  our  indifference  and  cow- 
ardice, and  stalks  abroad  at  noonday  when  it  should  be 
made  so  ashamed  as  to  hide  its  head.  Let  us  not 
deceive  ourselves.  This  war  between  Michael  and  his 
angels  and  "  the  Devil  and  his  angels  "  for  the  dominion 
of  this  world  is  an  internecine  conflict :  it  must  go  on 
until  victory  perches  eagle-winged  upon  the  banner  of 


34-i         YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

one  oi>  the  other  of  the  opposing  forces.  "  And  there 
is  no  discharge  in  that  war." 

Not  only  are  young  men  the  hope  of  the  nation  and 
of  the  world,  but  there  are  peculiar  temptations  to 
which  they  are  especially  exposed :  hence,  there  is  the 
most  urgent  necessity  that  every  possible  safeguard 
should  be  thrown  around  them.  What  these  tempta- 
tions are,  is  sufficiently  well  known,  —  the  theatre,  the 
drinking-saloon,  the  gambling-den,  the  house  of  her 
whose  paths  incline  to  the  dead.  These  are  the 
maelstroms  into  which  thousands  of  youth  every  year 
are  drawn  and  ingulfed,  —  the  "  Serbonian  bogs "  in 
which  whole  armies  of  the  unwary  young  are  sunk  ;  the 
descending  circle  by  which,  as  in  some  awful  "  Inferno," 
they  pass  down  to  the  nethermost  abyss  of  ruin.  Future 
ages  will  look  back  at  our  tolerance  of  these  iniquitous, 
soul-ruining  agencies  with  an  astonishment  and  horror 
as  deep  as  that  with  which  we  regard  the  bloody 
spectacular  games  of  the  Roman  amphitheatre,  or  the 
inconceivable  atrocities  of  the  Inquisition. 

Mythology  tells  of  a  monster  which  fed  upon  human 
flesh;  by  the  hard  condition  of  a  treaty,  Athens  was 
compelled  to  furnish  yearly  seven  boys  and  seven  girls 
of  the  flower  of  its  youth  for  this  horrible  banquet :  but 
what  was  this  to  the  youth  which  we  furnish  year  by 
year  to  these  monsters  of  intemperance  and  debauchery, 
which  feed  on  both  human  bodies  and  human  souls'? 
Tell  me  what  sacrifice  is  too  great  to  be  made,  what 
expenditure  too  costly,  in  the  effort  to  rescue  these 
victims  ?  This  is  a  matter  which  comes  home  to  every 
member  of  society.  These  young  men  are  in  our  work- 
shops, stores,  counting-rooms,  government    offices  —  in 


SAVE   THE  YOUTH.  345 

all  places  of  trust.  Vices  are  costly.  How  often  are 
they  led  on  from  one  step  to  another  until  they  appro- 
priate the  means  with  which  they  have  been  intrusted ! 
The  sums  lost  in  this  way,  to  put  it  on  the  lowest 
ground,  would  far  more  than  meet  the  expenditure  of 
this  Association.  But  these  young  men  are  members 
of  our  own  families  ;  and  what  family  is  secure  against 
the  inroads  of  these  evils  \  A  gentleman  passing  over 
a  battle-field,  saw  a  boy  searching  anxiously  amoug  the 
dead.  At  last,  coming  to  one  through  whose  heart  a 
chain-shot  had  passed,  he  stood  fixed,  while  his  eyes 
filled  with  tears.  "  My  son,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  you 
seem  to  be  much  interested  in  that  dead  soldier."  — 
"  Yes,  sir :  it  is  my  father,"  was  the  reply.  We  know 
not  how  soon  nor  where  the  shot  may  strike  a  son,  a 
brother,  it  may  be  a  father.  Let  my  son  die  any  death 
rather  than  fall  a  victim  to  any  form  of  vice.  As  the 
wife  of  John  Welsh  said,  when  the  king  imposed  hard 
conditions  in  violation  of  conscience  as  the  price  of  her 
husband's  liberty,  —  holding  up  her  apron, —  "  I  would 
rather  receive  his  head  there,"  —  so  may  any  parent  say 
with  regard  to  his  child,  "  Let  his  head  be  brought  as 
that  of  John  the  Baptist  to  Herod,  if  such  be  the  will  of 
God,  rather  than  that  he  should  fall  a  victim  of  drunk- 
enness or  debauchery.  Take  any  shape  but  that."  But 
apart  from  such  considerations  is  the  one  that  we  are 
our  brother's  keeper ;  that  we  are  bound  to  do  good  to 
all  men ;  and  that,  wherever  we  see  them  sinning  and 
suffering,  we  must  fly  to  their  rescue.  This  is  funda- 
mental to  Christianity,  the  law  of  its  life,  the  end  for 
which  it  has  descended  from  heaven.  Oh,  what  a  sad 
and  painful  sight  is  a  ruined  young  man !     Not  a  ruin 


340  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

like  that  of  "  Tyre  by  the  margin  of  the  sounding 
waves,"  or  of  "  Palmyra,  central  in  the  desert,"  but  the 
ruin  of  a  soul  created  in  the  image  of  God.  "  What 
a  piece  of  work  is  a  man ! "  Man  with  his  erect 
countenance !  Man,  who  can  weigh  the  earth  in  his 
scales,  and  the  blazing  sun  in  his  balances ;  who  can 
stand  on  the  opposite  shores  of  the  "  houseless  ocean's 
heaving  field,"  and  talk  to  his  fellow-men  three  thou- 
sand miles  away ;  who  can  look  over  yonder  where 
"  fields  of  light  and  liquid  ether  flow,"  and  tell  us 
what  are  the  substances  blazing  in  those  eternal  watch- 
fires  of  the  night.  Man !  with  his  thoughts  that  wander 
through  eternity,  and  a  soul  that  cannot  rest  until  it 
rests  in  God ;  man !  for  whom  the  Son  of  God 
agonized  and  died  on  Calvary !  is  he  not  of  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  holy  ones,  and  but  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels  1  Who  can  contemplate  his  ruin  without  horror  \ 
And  yet,  alas !  alas  !  from  whose  eyes  is  the  painful 
sight  concealed  ?  Many  a  one  have  I  known  over  whom 
I  could  have  wept  as  Christ  over  Jerusalem.  "  If  thou 
hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the 
things  which  belong  unto  thy  peace!  But  now  are 
they  hidden  from  thine  eyes." 

What  pastor  has  not  witnessed  some  one  snatched 
away  from  his  flock  by  adverse  influence  which  he  was 
powerless  to  counteract  \  Here  is  a  young  man,  a  youth 
of  fourteen  to  twenty  years  of  age ;  up  to  this  time  he 
has  been  an  attendant  upon  divine  service,  prayer-meet- 
ing it  may  be,  and  Bible-class ;  he  has  been  frank,  open, 
and  honest  in  word,  look,  and  action  ;  but  now  he  falls 
into  the  society  of  ungodly  companions,  he  is  seldom 
seen  in  the  sanctuary,  he  shuns  his  former  acquaintances, 


SAVE   THE  YOUTH.  347 

and  especially  his  pastor ;  his  innocence  and  his  honesty 
are  gone,  his  countenance  changes,  and  he  is  marked 
with  those  characters  which  indulgence  of  the  baser 
passions  never  fails  to  impress.  One  is  reminded  of 
Dante's  awful  figure,  in  which  a  fiend  fastens  on  a  man 
and  holds  him  in  his  grasp,  until,  by  an  infernal  meta- 
morphosis, the  man  is  transformed  into  the  fiend.  Sad 
sight,  from  which  angels  turn  away  with  averted  faces, 
but  a  process  going  forward  hourly  in  hundreds  of 
instances,  and  especially  in  these  large  cities. 

"Who  will  not  hail  with  delight  an  agency  which  can 
go  and  speak  to  these  young  men,  and  warn  them  of  the 
danger,  rescue  them  from  the  snare  of  the  fowler,  deliver 
them  as  the  prey  from  the"* mighty,  the  captives  from  the 
terrible  ? 

Let  us  encourage  by  every  means  in  our  power  those 
who  are  engaged  in  this  good  work.  Let  us  invoke  in 
their  behalf  the  aid  of  the  Spirit,  without  which  no  work 
done,  even  for  the  Lord,  can  prosper.  Paul  may  plant, 
and  Apollos  water,  but  God  alone  can  give  the  increase. 


PKEACHING.1 


The  term  preaching  expresses  the  precise  object  pro- 
posed by  a  "  Theological  Seminary."  As  all  the  rivers 
run  into  the  sea,  and  as  all  the  planets  revolve  around 
the  sun,  so  all  the  studies  of  the  seminary  are  designed 
to  bear  upon  preaching.  The  Theological  Seminary  is 
not  an  institution  designed  for  the  training  of  scholars, 
orators,  authors,  or  even  theologians  in  the  technical 
sense,  but  its  design  is  the  training  of  preachers.  What- 
ever else  it  may  accomplish,  it  should  not  fail  in  this. 
Scholarship  is  indispensable,  eloquence  is  of  great  value, 
and  a  competent  knowledge  of  theology  is  essential  as 
the  foundation  of  all,  and  therefore  the  teaching  of  the- 
ology in  its  various  branches  is  the  specific  work  of 
the  seminary ;  but  these  are  not  the  end,  they  are  only 
means  to  a  higher  end.  That  higher  end  is  preaching 
the  gospel  of  Christ.  What,  then,  we  desire  to  impress 
upon  the  minds  of  those  committed  to  our  instruction, 
is,  first  and  foremost,  that  they  are  to  be  preachers ;  fail- 
ing in  this,  they  fail  in  their  life-work. 

What  is  Preaching]  The  term,  from  the  Latin 
jirccdico,  to  declare  or  proclaim,  means  primarily  the 
public  utterance  of  one's  sentiments  upon  any  subject  of 

1  An  address  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Seminary,  Sept.  12,  1870. 
348 


PREACHING.  349 

general  interest.  In  the  modern,  Christian,  and  strictly 
definite  use  of  the  term,  it  means,  speaking  on  a  reli- 
gious subject  drawn  from  a  passage  of  Scripture.  The 
preacher  is  a  teacher  of  religious  truth,  but  a  teacher  of 
religious  truth  under  special  relations  and  with  a  special 
purpose.  As  to  the  special  relations,  he  is  connected 
with  the  Church  of  Christ.  He  receives  from  the  church 
the  right  to  go  forth  and  preach  the  word  of  life  publicly 
and  authoritatively.  This  is  the  divine  plan,  the  rule  of 
the  Head  of  the  Church.  Any  departure  from  this  rule 
is  unwarranted,  and  has  no  promise  of  the  divine  pres- 
ence and  blessing.  Isolated  from  the  body  of  Christ, 
the  work  of  the  preacher  is  sporadic,  fragmentary,  and 
its  results  evanescent.  He  should  always  be  like  his 
Master,  "  a  minister  of  the  sanctuary  and  of  the  true 
tabernacle,  which  the  Lord  pitched,  and  not  man."  The 
preacher  is,  therefore,  in  an  important  sense,  an  organ  of 
the  church.  He  does  not  go  forth  independently  as  an 
individual,  but  as  an  accredited  ambassador  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  receiving  his  commission  from  him  through 
the  instrumentality  that  he  has  appointed. 

The  function  of  preaching  is  also  connected  with 
others.  The  preacher  is  also  a  pastor.  He  administers 
the  sacraments ;  is  the  spiritual  counsellor  of  the  flock 
over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  him  overseer; 
visits  the  sick  ;  and  performs  various  other  services,  both 
in  seasons  of  joy  and  sorrow,  for  those  to  whom  he  min- 
isters. "  He  gave  some  pastors  and  teachers."  Not 
only  is  the  function  of  preaching  exercised  in  connection 
with  these  duties,  but  it  is  more  or  less*modified  by 
them ;  hence  the  divine  command,  "  Feed  the  flock." 
Preaching  will  therefore  be  more  or  less  affected,  and 


350  PREACHING. 

properly  so,  by  the  condition  of  those  to  whom  it  is 
addressed :  they  will  mutually  act  and  re-act  upon  one 
another.  Whatever  may  be  the  case  ftwith  men  of 
special  endowments,  who  give  themselves  to  preaching 
alone,  it  is  beyond  controversy  that  Christ's  work  of 
gathering  in  souls  into  his  kingdom  is  carried  forward 
by  men  who  exercise  the  function  of  preaching  in  con- 
nection with  other  duties.  The  history  of  the  church 
justifies  the  divine  method.  Thus  has  the  number  of 
them  that  are  saved  been  gathered  into  the  fold  of 
Christ,  and  the  body  of  Christ  been  preserved  and  edi- 
fied. "  Wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children."  We  do 
not  enlarge  on  this  subject,  simply  because  time  will  not 
permit :  its  importance  cannot  be  over-estimated.  The 
word  of  divine  truth  is  best  spoken  on  the  sabbath  by 
one  who  has  been  mingling  during  the  week,  or  as  op- 
portunity has  afforded,  with  those  whom  he  addresses, 
and  with  whose  temptations,  doubts,  fears,  afflictions, 
trials,  piety,  labors  of  love,  zeal  for  the  Lord's  cause,  he 
is  familiar.  Thus  he  is  enabled  to  speak  from  the 
heart  to  the  heart :  thus  he  becomes  one  with  the  peo- 
ple, and  is  made  to  feel  that  his  words  are  not  alone, 
but  are  aided  by  many  other  influences  in  moving  the 
people  whom  he  addresses,  and  assisting  them  in  their 
progress  heavenward. 

The  preacher  is  not  only  a  religious  teacher,  but  he 
is  a  religious  teacher  under  a  special  aspect.  His  aim 
is  not,  like  that  of  the  ordinary  teacher,  simply  instruc- 
tion, but  first  and  especially  action:  the  truth  must  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  men  so  as  to  move  them.  His 
object  is  not  merely  to  proclaim  the  truth,  but  to  enforce 
it  practically.     He  aims,  not  merely  to  lodge  it  in  the 


PREACHING.  3.31 

bead,  but  to  make  it  an  impelling  power  in  tbe  life. 
He  must  strive  to  bring  it  to  bear  so  that  men  may  not 
only  know,  but  do,  the  will  of  their  Father  in  heaven. 
Nor  is  this  work  one  that  is  outward  only,  but  one  that 
is  also  inward.  The  preacher  is  addressing  imperfect 
men,  —  men  that  are  not  yet  fit  for  heaven,  but  in  the 
preparation  for  which  his  words  may  be,  and  ought  to 
be,  a  powerful  instrumentality.  There  will  be  before 
him  those  who  have  not  yet  entered  on  a  Christian  life, 
who  have  not  turned  from  the  world  to  God,  who  have 
not  forsaken  a  life  of  sin  for  one  of  holiness.  He  must 
not  only  aim  to  show  them  the  danger  in  which  they 
are,  not  only  must  he  set  clearly  before  them  their  lost 
condition,  but  he  must  strive  to  move  them,  induce  them 
to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come ;  in  other  words,  seek  to 
be  the  Spirit's  agent  in  their  conversion.  This  is  the 
chief  end  of  preaching,  "  It  pleased  God  by  the  foolish- 
ness of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe."  This 
gives  a  peculiar  cast  to  the  method  of  presenting  truth. 
The  word  of  life  must  take  the  mould  which  the 
speaker's  aim,  the  object  designed,  will  give  it.  Here 
is  an  object  worthy  of  an  angel.  Nay,  did  not  the  Arch- 
angel himself,  the  Son  of  God,  come  down  to  this  world 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost  ?  What  thought 
could  possibly  be  better  calculated  to  rouse  all  the 
powers  of  the  soul  into  intensest  action,  than  the 
thought  that  the  work  wc  have  on  hand  is  no  less  than 
to  turn  men  from  darkness  unto  light,  and  from  Satan 
unto  God? 

But  besides  this,  even  the  converted  whom  we  address 
are  yet  imperfectly  sanctified  ;  they  are  too  ready  to  be 
satisfied  with  present  attainments;  they  are  too  ready 


352  PREACHING. 

to  say,  I  have  already  attained,  and  am  already  perfect. 
They  must  be  aroused,  reminded  of  the  necessity  of 
still  striving  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,  of  pressing 
toward  the  mark.  Here,  again,  the  word  is  an  impel- 
ling power,  and  must  be  shaped  to  that  end.  There  are 
remaining  sins  that  must  be  put  away :  this  requires 
action  internal  and  painful.  "  Crucify  the  flesh  with 
the  affections  and  lusts."  "  Mortify  the  deeds  of  the 
body."  "  Mortify  your  members  that  are  on  the  earth." 
There  are  graces  to  cultivate,  and  lofty  and  noble 
courses  of  life  to  pursue.  To  induce  to  such  courses, 
to  lift  men  up  out  of  their  littleness,  and  their  petty 
meannesses,  and  their  longings  after  the  flesh-pots  of 
Egypt,  into  a  higher  life,  to  inspire  them  with  nobler 
and  still  more  elevated  aims  —  this  is  the  end  of  preach- 
ing, and  this  is  the  use  which  the  preacher  must  make 
of  religious  truth ;  edifying,  building  up  as  the  word 
means,  building  up  men,  edifying  the  body  of  Christ. 
Such  is  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

This  is  a  work,  one  would  think,  great  enough  and 
noble  enough  to  satisfy  the  aspirations  of  the  loftiest 
intellect ;  and  so  it  has  proved.  From  the  times  of 
the  apostles  till  the  present,  it  has  allured  many  of  the 
purest  and  greatest  of  the  sons  of  men,  who  have  found 
in  it  a  field  sufficient  for  the  satisfaction  of  their  holiest 
emotions,  and  the  employment  of  their  noblest  powers. 
There  is  no  field  which  so  calls  out,  develops,  and  exer- 
cises all  the  highest  and  best  elements  of  our  nature  as 
preaching  and  its  associated  duties.  A  moment's  reflec- 
tion must  convince  any  one  of  the  truth  of  this.  Tell 
me  what  power  of  the  mind,  what  good  and  gracious 
emotion  of  the  heart,  lies  dormant  in  him  who  exercises 


PREACHING. 

the  office  of  a  true  preacher  and  pastor  well.  The  work 
is  so  great  that  it  might  seem  to  be  above  the  powers  of 
ordinary  mortals ;  and  indeed  it  is  one  which,  were  it 
possible,  might  fill  the  heart  of  an  angel  with  envy. 
Even  an  inadequate  survey  of  it  may  lead  us  to  inquire, 
"Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?"  It  has  pleased 
God,  however,  to  commit  this  work,  not  to  angels,  but 
to  men.  "  But  we  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vess<  Is 
that  the  excellency  of  the  power  may  be  of  God  and 
not  of  men."  Xot  only  are  men  God's  agents  in  this 
work,  but  he  has  given  them  the  promise  of  grace  and 
support  in  its  performance.  "  "Who  goeth  a  warfare  at 
any  time  on  his  own  charges  ? "  The  honest  servant 
of  Christ  may  rely  on  great  and  precious  promises  :  "it 
shall  be  given  him  in  that  hour  what  he  shall  speak  ; 
as  his  days,  so  shall  his  strength  be."  Nevertheless, 
these  promises  must  be  taken  with  the  necessary  condi- 
tions, and,  like  other  promises,  are  only  realized  in  the 
appropriate  circumstances.  This  is  not  an  age  of  mira- 
cles; there  is  no  miraculous  interposition  to  be  expected; 
and  we  are  not  so  to  wrest  Scripture  from  its  true  intent 
as  to  affirm  that  the  promises  relating  to  this  great  work 
will  be  realized  by  every  one,  however  unqualified,  who 
may,  through  conceit  or  presumption,  rush  unsent  and 
uncalled  into  the  work  of  preaching. 

This  work  is  one  for  which  qualifications,  natural  and 
acquired,  are  essential.  As  to  the  natural  endowments, 
a  fair  degree  of  talent  is  necessary,  —  not  great  talents. 
but  respectable.  Great  men  are  rare  :  the  Olympians 
are  few.  The  ministry  has  had  its  full  proportion,  and 
God  has  blessed  these  eminent  men  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  great  things  for  his  cause ;  but  they  are  few ; 


854  PREACHING. 

they  appear  at  rare  intervals,  and  the  cause  of  Christ 
is  for  the  most  part  carried  forward  by  humbler  instru- 
ments. The  ability  that  would  make  a  man  respectable 
in  other  walks  of  life,  when  disconnected  from  any  par- 
ticular inaptitude,  may  suffice  also  for  a  respectable  and 
useful  preacher  of  the  Word.  Less  than  this  will  not 
suffice.  The  great  desideratum  is  a  mind  well  bal- 
anced and  proportioned.  Crotchets  and  idiosyncrasies 
are  specially  to  be  deprecated  in  one  who  preaches  the 
gospel.  There  is  no  sphere  in  life  in  which  that  quality 
which  men  term  common  sense  is  more  essential,  or  the 
lack  of  it  more  fatal.  We  do  not  always  find  it,  unfor- 
tunately ;  and  the  very  lack  of  it  seems  to  have  been  the 
occasion  of  some  men  pushing  into  a  calling  for  which 
they  have  no  aptitude. 

There  is  one  special  natural  qualification  which  re- 
quires to  be  emphasized  here,  —  the  capacity  to  address 
our  fellow-men  by  oral  speech  in  such  a  way  as  to  com- 
mand their  attention  and  respect.  Let  it  be  observed 
that  I  am  not  insisting  upon  eloquence  nor  oratory ; 
these  are  rare  endowments ;  few,  very  few,  possess  them. 
If  the  Theological  Seminary,  as  seems  to  be  the  absurd 
notion  of  some,  must  send  out  only  eloquent  orators  as 
preachers,  then  it  may  as  well  close  its  doors  at  once. 
These  are  indeed  "  rarce  aves  in  ecclesia"  What  I  insist 
upon,  is  the  capacity  to  stand  before  a  congregation  of 
Christians,  and  in  a  plain,  manly,  and  acceptable  man- 
ner, present  divine  truth.  The  man  who  finds  that 
owing  to  some  natural  defect,  or  unconquerable  timidity, 
or  languor  of  temperament,  he  is  unable  to  do  this, 
should  feel  that  he  is  not  called  to  the  work  of  preach- 
ing, and  should  seek  some  other  calling  in  which  there 


PREACHING. 

may  be  a  better  hope  of  success.  This  capacity  is  not 
found  in  all.  Even  men  of  superior  intellect  and  attain- 
ments sometimes,  though  rarely,  fail  in  this  point.  Let 
it  be  remembered,  however,  that  it  is  not  always  the 
most  fluent  who  succeed  best  in  the  end ;  and  that 
there  is,  perhaps,  no  faculty  that  will  better  repay 
careful  cultivation  than  the  faculty  of  speech.  All  are 
familiar  with  the  traditions  of  the  efforts  put  forth  by 
the  prince  of  Greek  orators,  Demosthenes ;  or,  to  take 
a  more  familiar  instance,  with  the  early  failures  and 
ultimate  success  of  the  present  Prime  Minister  of  Eng- 
land. This  may  suggest  also  the  importance  of  close 
and  continuous  application.  There  can  be  no  excel- 
lence without  this :  no  supposed  natural  gifts  will  com- 
pensate for  indolence.  The  literary  world  has  had  its 
season's  sensation  in  the  life  of  Lord  Macaulay,  certainly 
the  most  brilliant  and  most  successful  literary  man  of 
modern  times.  Nothing  strikes  one  more  forcibly  in 
that  life  than  his  persistent,  intense,  and  unwearied 
application.  He  recounts,  on  one  occasion,  the  classics 
which  he  had  read  during  one  period  of  thirteen  months 
while  in  India,  and  which,  as  his  biographer  remarks, 
the  annotations  on  the  margin  of  his  editions  prove  to 
have  been  read  with  care ;  and  the  number  is  greater, 
we  presume  to  say,  than  many  a  one,  not  without  repu- 
tation as  a  classical  scholar,  has  read  during  his  whole 
life.  To  what  a  pitch  of  influence  the  application, 
which  made  Macaulay  eminent  as  poet,  legislator, 
statesman,  and  historian,  would  raise  a  preacher  of 
fair  talents,  it  would  be  impossible  to  conjecture.  How 
many  a  bright  morning  is  but  the  prelude  of  a  clouded 
and  unprofitable  day  of  life  for  lack   of  this   one   ele- 


356  PREACHING. 

ment,   this    gift  of    persistent    and   painstaking   appli- 
cation ! 

But  we  have  seen  that  the  end  of  preaching  is  the 
salvation  of  souls,  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the 
edification  of  believers.  This  postulates  a  heart  right 
with  God,  an-  earnest  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  men. 
The  desire  for  this  work  should  be  as  "  a  fire  within  the 
bones."  "  Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel,"  is 
the  voice  that  should  be  heard  at  some  time  in  the  soul 
of  every  one  who  is  looking  to  the  ministry.  There  was 
much  wisdom  in  the  advice  of  an  old  divine  to  a  young 
man,  "  Do  not  enter  the  ministry  if  you  can  help  it." 
Yet  I  dare  not  speak  so  strongly  as  some  on  this  point. 
There  may  be  in  the  mind  of  a  thoroughly  good  young 
man,  a  conflict  of  influences ;  and  sometimes  it  may 
seem  to  him,  for  a  time  at  least,  difficult  to  determine 
whether  he  is  really  called  to  the  ministry  or  not.  He 
may  be  really  led  to  the  altar  by  the  haiid  of  God, 
although  he  be  not  so  overwhelmingly  constrained. 
Yet  it  is  certain  that  if  he  enter  upon  this  work  without 
a  clear  conviction  that  he  hears  the  voice  of  God,  or  if  his 
mind  turns  with  longing  to  some  other  profession  or  call- 
ing, he  will  in  all  probability  find  himself  uncomfortable 
in  his  work,  and  spend  an  unhappy  and  profitless  life. 
There  are  also  often  enumerated  among  the  elements  that 
enter  into  a  call  to  this  work,  means,  opportunity,  etc. 
We  do  not  deny  their  importance  ;  but,  as  a  rule,  where 
there  is  a  will,  there  is  a  way ;  and  while  recognizing  the 
increasing  difficulties  in  the  path  of  young  men,  and 
desirous  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  remove  them,  we  still 
believe  that  no  one  who  has  the  voice  of  God  calling  him 
to  this  work  will  fail  for  lack  of  means  or  opportunity. 


PREACIIIXG.  357 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  importance  of  applica- 
tion, application  intense  and  continuous.  The  question 
here  occurs  as  to  what  the  preacher  should  study,  to 
what  must  this  application  be  directed?  We  might 
reply  in  the  words  of  the  wise  man,  "  Intermeddle  with 
all  wisdom."  Indeed,  there  is  no  department  of  knowl- 
edge that  may  not  furnish  useful  material  to  the  preacher, 
and  it  is  a  great  advantage  to  be  able  to  glean  in  a  broad 
field :  nevertheless,  the  world  of  knowledge  is  too  vast 
for  any  one  mind  to  survey.  There  is  danger,  that,  in 
widening  the  stream,  it  become  also  shallow  ;  although 
we  must  beware  of  a  common  sophism,  that  extensive 
knowledge  is  necessarily  superficial :  there  must,  how- 
ever, be  concentration.  "  Art  is  long,  and  time  is  fleet- 
ing." 

Biblical  studies  claim  our  first  attention,  —  the  Bible 
in  its  original  languages,  a  competent  knowledge  of 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  a  thorough  study  of  the  original 
text.  To  neglect  this,  is  to  neglect  the  foundation .  a 
student  who  undervalues  these  studies  must  suffer  in 
consequence  during  all  the  years  of  his  ministry.  Nor 
is  the  attainment  so  difficult  as  some  imagine.  The 
time  and  attention  which  many  a  young  lady  gives  in 
order  to  play  respectably  on  the  piano,  would  put  a 
young  man  in  possession  of  a  competent  acquaintance 
writh  those  languages  in  which  God  has  been  pleased  to 
communicate  to  us  his  Word.  The  original  Scrip- 
tures, "  turn  them  by  day  and  by  night,"  and  give 
attention  to  all  the  sciences  which  bear  on  their  inter- 
pretation. 

Systematic  theology  is  essential.  I  do  not  dwell  upon 
it,  it  is  self-evident :  a  man  must  know  the  doctrines  of 


358  PREACHING. 

grace  before  he  can  proclaim  them.  They  are  not,  how- 
ever, to  be  preached  in  the  technical  language  of  the 
schools,  but  as  they  are  conceived  in  the  heart  of 
one  who  has  felt  the  truth  to  be  the  wisdom  of  God 
to  the  salvation  of  his  own  soul,  and  who  is  desirous  to 
bring  it  to  bear  on  the  hearts  of  others. 

Of  those  branches  of  knowledge  more  intimately 
connected  with  preaching,  we  mention  the  study  of 
languages,  modern  and  ancient.  As  we  are  now  so 
dependent  on  the  Germans  for  our  theological  learning 
in  almost  every  department,  I  think  every  student  should 
seek  sufficient  acquaintance  with  that  noble  language  to 
enable  him  to  go  to  the  originals,  and  not  be  compelled 
to  depend  entirely  upon  translations.  The  ancient 
classics  are  valuable  in  many  ways.  The  process  of 
translating  from  one  language  to  another,  is  second  to  no 
other  means  in  acquiring  a  command  of  a  clear,  pointed, 
and  forcible  style.  Besides,  they  are  so  perfect  in  form, 
that  no  one  can  be  imbued  with  their  spirit,  without 
insensibly  acquiring  a  taste  which  will  be  an  antidote  to 
loose  and  discursive  discourses.  Philosophy  in  its  higher 
departments  is  invaluable,  especially  in  the  defence  of  the 
gospel  against  the  sceptical  assaults  which  in  each  age 
are  made  upon  it.  History  is  the  record  of  God's  prov- 
idential dealings  with  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  re- 
cords the  unfolding  of  the  plan  of  him  who  has  ascended 
far  above  principality  and  power,  and  is  made  head  over 
all  things  to  his  body  the  Church.  Natural  science  is  the 
revelation  of  God  in  nature.  "  The  heavens  declare  his 
glory,  and  the  firmament  showcth  his  handiwork."  Here 
are  fields  of  knowledge  and  of  study,  that  the  longest 
life  will  scarcely  be  able  to  survey,  much  less  to  exhaust. 


PREACHING. 

These  all,  however,  are  collateral  and  auxiliary. 
Preaching  does  not  find  its  matter  in  any  or  all  of  them, 
but  in  the  Word  of  God:  divine  truth  is  its  subject- 
matter,  and  nothing  else.  The  Scriptures  are  the  armory 
from  which  all  our  weapons  are  to  be  drawn,  —  weapons 
which,  though  not  carnal,  are  mighty  to  the  pulling 
down  of  strongholds.  The  history  of  the  church  fur- 
nishes many  examples  of  men,  who,  without  learning, 
except  the  power  to  read  the  English  Bible,  and,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  evangelist  Moody,  not  even  that,  if  we 
mean  to  read  it  correctly  ;  but  who,  thoroughly  saturated 
with  Bible  truth,  and  full  of  zeal  for  the  conversion  of 
sinners,  have  preached  the  gospel  with  wonderful  power 
and  astonishing  results.  The  same  history  furnishes 
also  painful  examples  of  men  full  of  learning,  and 
freighted  to  the  very  gunwales  with  a  ponderous  theol- 
ogv,  who  have  made  no  impression,  and  whose  learned 
disquisitions  have  fallen  upon  men's  ears  with  as  little 
effect  as  the  wind  that  blows.  But  let  me,  young  friends 
of  the  seminary,  assure  you  that  if  you  will  shake  off  all 
indolence,  give  yourselves  earnestly  to  the  studies  of  the 
institution,  and  especially  lay  up  stores  of  Scripture 
knowledge,  and  make  yourselves  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  doctrines  of  grace,  and  then  go  forth  with 
hearts  full  of  love  to  perishing  sinners,  and  with  a  burn- 
ing desire  to  bring  them  to  Christ,  that  vou  can  not  ami 
will  not  fail  of  being  efficient  and  successful  preachers 
of  the  Word. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  congratulate  you  on  the 
profession  you  have  chosen.  Great  and  manifold  are  its 
advantages.  It  leads  you  to  pursuits  that  have  a  close 
affinity  to  the  nobler  faculties  of  the  mind,  and  therefore 


360  PREACHING. 

possess  a  charm  for  the  great  majority  of  thinking  men. 
Even  a  Tyndall  and  Huxley  must  needs  dabble  in  the- 
ology. How  wisely,  is  a  question  that  at  this  late  hour 
we  cannot  discuss.  In  the  eight  years  that  have  passed 
since  I  entered  on  the  duties  of  the  professorship,  I  have 
heard  of  no  student  complaining  that  the  studies  of  the 
seminary  were  not  congenial.  I  believe  the  rule  is,  that, 
although  they  sometimes  be  taxing,  they  are,  never- 
theless, delightful.  That  the  work  of  the  ministry  has 
its  own  trials,  we  are  fully  aware,  and  readily  admit : 
nevertheless,  it  keeps  us  all  our  life  long  in  the  green 
pastures  and  by  the  still  waters,  beneath  the  open  sky, 
surrounded  by  the  refreshing  breath  of  heaven.  It 
keeps  us  at  the  same  time  separated  from  much  of  the 
meanness  and  wickedness  of  this  world,  with  which 
others  are  necessarily  conversant,  and  which  must  bring 
pain  and  distress  to  a  pious  and  sensitive  mind.  It 
carries  with  it  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience.  This 
is  the  Lord's  work ;  here  we  are  about  our  Master's 
business ;  we  are  in  his  field  and  vineyard ;  we  know, 
that,  if  we  are  conscientious  laborers,  his  approving  eye 
is  upon  us.  "  We  have  meat  to  eat  that  the  world 
knows  not  of."  Doing  good,  both  to  the  bodies  and  souls 
of  men,  brings  its  own  reward ;  and  this  reward  the  con- 
scientious minister  shall  never  miss.  The  field  you  have 
chosen  is,  then,  one  of  the  noblest  character,  and  furnishes 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the  highest  powers,  and 
opens  the  way  to  the  largest  influence.  Of  all  men,  the 
able,  earnest,  and  faithful  minister  exerts  the  greatest 
influence.  By  such  men  has  the  destiny  of  the  world 
been  shaped  from  tlic  days  of  Paul  to  the  present  hour. 
I  congratulate  you  also  that  you  have  devoted  yourselves 


PREACHING.  3G1 

to  the  ministry  in  a  church  which,  although  small  among 
the  tribes  of  Israel,  "  says  to  the  sanctuary,  Be  clean ; 
and  to  the  throne,  Kiss  the  Son ; "  which  maintains  a 
testimony  for  the  whole  of  divine  truth,  stands  up  for 
the  purity  of  divine  worship,  and  refuses  to  bow  the 
knee  to  any  organization,  however  great  and  popular, 
that  does  not  bow  to  the  authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  We  have  not  yet  comprehended  the  greatness 
nor  the  grandeur  of  the  national  reform  movement.  It 
opens  a  field  for  sanctified  talents  in  the  cause  of  Christ 
that  might  satisfy  the  loftiest  aspirations.  To  bring  this 
youngest  born,  but  already  one  of  the  mightiest,  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth  to  acknowledge  the  law  of  God  and 
the  supreme  authority  of  Christ  over  the  nations,  to 
make  it  a  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  is  the 
high  and  the  ennobling  task  to  which  you  are  devoted 
and  consecrated.  Enter,  then,  with  zeal  and  with  ardor 
upon  your  work.  In  the  day  of  battle  you  shall  lack 
neither  bows  nor  arrows.  The  Lord  of  hosts  is  upon 
your  side :  you  need  not  fear  what  man  can  do  ;  the 
victory  is  certain.  And  at  the  end  of  the  day  you  shall 
have  an  entrance  administered  unto  you  abundantly  into 
the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
receive  the  crown  of  glory  which  fadeth  not  away. 


THE   THEOLOGY  FOR  THE   TIMES. 


"  The  Theology  for  the  Times,"  the  theme  on  which 
you  have  requested  me  to  speak,  is  one  whose  diffi- 
culty appears  to  be  in  proportion  to  its  importance. 
The  problem  which  it  proposes  for  solution  appears 
to  be  this  .  What  are  the  moral  and  religious  truths 
specially  demanded  by  the  state  of  society  in  our  day  1 
and  how  shall  they  be  presented,  in  order  to  secure 
the  highest  end,  the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of 
the  world  \ 

This  is  a  question  which  will  be  variously  answered, 
toward  the  solution  of  which  we  can,  perhaps,  make 
our  relative  approximations,  but  which  certainly  de- 
mands a  much  more  thorough  and  effective  treatment 
than  it  has  generally  received,  or  is  likely  to  receive 
from  the  present  speaker. 

Theology  has  its  source  in  the  word  of  God.  That 
word,  like  its  Author,  is  unchangeable,  the  same  yester- 
day, to-day,  and  forever,  without  variableness  or  shadow 
of  turning,  the  perpetual  and  inexhaustible  fountain  of 
all  moral  and  religious  truth.  But,  while  the  Scriptures 
are  unchangeable,  theology  varies  with  the  varied 
circumstances    of  the    times,  the  state    of  society,  the 

1  An  address  delivered  at  the  semi-centennial  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Theological  Seminary,  Alleghany  City,  Penn.,  1870. 
362 


THE  THEOLOGY  FOR  THE  TIMES.  303 

progress  of  intelligence,  the  phases  both  of  belief  and 
unbelief,  and  the  prevalent  modes  of  thought ;  and 
hence  our  theme  implies  that  theology  must  adapt  itself 
to  the  different  epochs  of  the  world's  history. 

These  variations,  however,  arc  within  certain  limits. 
Theology  is  fluent,  like  the  river,  but  not  uncertain  and 
transient,  like  the  clouds  that  float  above  it :  the  body 
of  doctrine  remains,  the  old  landmarks  are  not  lost ;  the 
changes  are  only  those  of  the  same  truth,  always  old, 
yet  ever  new,  adapting  itself  to  the  varying  conditions 
of  the  times. 

I.  The  theology  of  the  present  must,  for  substance, 
be  the  same  as  that  of  the  past.  In  all  science,  the 
present  is  the  heir  of  the  past.  Other  men  have  la- 
bored, and  we  have  entered  into  their  labors.  There  is 
no  new  thing  under  the  sun.  The  foundations  of  the 
great  temple  of  knowledge  are  deep  in  the  past.  This 
is  especially  true  of  the  science  of  theology.  Its  source 
is  the  word  of  God.  In  its  present  form,  it  is  the  result 
of  the  study  of  the  Church  of  Christ  for  nineteen  cen- 
turies. Intellects  as  subtle  and  as  profound  as  have 
ever  appeared  on  earth,  have  been  employed  in  its 
elaboration ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  any  genius 
greater  than  Augustine,  Anselm,  Calvin,  or  Edwards, 
will  arise  to  give  the  world  a  new  system  fundamentally 
different  from  that  which  we  already  possess.  The 
oldest  here  is  often  the  truest ;  and  those  who,  through 
desire  to  appear  original,  leave  the  known  and  beaten 
paths,  often  wander  into  a  trackless  waste,  and  find 
"  no  end,  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

To  maintain  the  opposite,  would  involve  the  assump- 
tion that  the  Scriptures  arc  darkly  obscure,  an  enigma 


364  THEOLOGY. 

which  the  study  of  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years 
has  failed  to  solve.  The  fact  is,  that  the  first  seven  cen- 
turies settled  the  great  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
Church's  faith,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  that  system 
which  is,  for  substance,  the  accepted  theology  of  our 
own  age. 

The  old  truth  remains :  her  throne  is  adamant,  and 
can  never  be  shaken.  The  doctrines  concerning  God, 
the  person  and  work  of  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the 
life  everlasting,  are,  as  in  former  times,  the  body  of  that 
truth  which  is  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation  to  them  who  believe.  There  is, 
perhaps,  a  special  necessity  for  emphasizing  this  point 
in  our  day,  when  there  is  so  manifest  a  tendency  to 
ignore  the  strong  doctrines  of  the  old  theology,  and 
to  confine  religion  to  a  subjective  sentimentalism,  which, 
indifferent  to  the  truth,  consists  only  in  ecstatic  feelings 
and  raptures. 

II.  The  theology  for  our  times  must  be  the  expression 
of  the  Christian  consciousness  of  the  times.  The  truth 
is  evermore  the  same  :  nevertheless,  men  vary,  both  in 
the  method  of  conceiving  and  expressing  the  truth. 
There  has  always  been  a  class  who  have  objected  to  all 
formal  statements  of  divine  truth,  and  who  would  con- 
fine us  rigidly  to  a  scriptural  phraseology.  This  has 
been  a  favorite  notion  with  errorists  in  all  ages.  Errors 
nourish  best  in  a  mist.  They  dread  clear  thinking  and 
close  definitions.  They  stand,  therefore,  in  antagonism 
to  scientific  statements  of  divine  truth.  According  to 
the  Roman-Catholic  Church,  doctrines  have  been  formed 
under  the  immediate  supervision  and  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;   and  their  statements   must,  therefore,  like 


THE  THEOLOGY  FOR  THE  TIMES.  365 

the  words  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  remain  unalterable 
from  age  to  age.  A  Roman-Catholic  professor  of 
Germany  had  doubts  about  reading  lectures  on  the  his- 
tory of  doctrine,  on  the  ground  that  the  name  implied 
a  process  of  change  and  development  inconsistent  with 
the  continual  supervision  of  the  Spirit. 

A  very  peculiar  view  is  that  of  the  German  Schlcier- 
macher,  that  profound  genius  who  has  left  the  impress 
of  his  thoughts,  not  only  upon  Germany,  but  upon  the 
world.  He  finds  the  source  of  theological  truth,  not 
in  the  Scriptures  directly,  but  in  the  Christian  conscious- 
ness. Theology  is  the  scientific  expression  of  the  facts 
of  subjective  experience.  These  may  be  modified  and 
shaped  by  the  Scriptures,  for  consciousness  is  the  source 
of  truth  to  which  the  Scriptures  are  subordinate.  The 
true  Protestant  and  evangelical  doctrine  is,  that,  the 
Bible  is  the  source  of  all  theological  truth  ;  that,  while 
this  truth  remains  the  same,  man's  conceptions  and 
modes  of  expressing  it  will  vary  with  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances of  each  epoch  ;  and  that,  therefore,  theology 
will  be  modified  as  to  its  form  by  the  Christian  con- 
sciousness of  the  times. 

There  assembled  at  Bonn,  in  Germany,  a  few  months 
since,  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the  Greek,  the 
Old  Catholic,  and  the  Anglican  churches,  with  the 
proposed  purpose  of  preparing  a  basis  of  union  for 
Christendom.  The  absurdity  of  an  insignificant  handful 
of  Old  Catholics,  a  few  bishops  of  the  fossilized  Greek 
Church,  and  a  portion  of  the  Romanizing  wing  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  proposing  to  unite  Christendom, 
was  sufficiently  apparent.  The  results  were  quite  in 
accordance  with  the  anticipation.     A  few  stiff  scholastic 


366  THEOLOGY. 

formulae  from  the  writings  of  John  of  Damascus,  a 
mediaeval  theologian  of  the  eighth  century,  were  pre- 
sented as  a  basis  of  union  for  Christendom  in  the  nine- 
teenth century! 

The  theology  of  the  first  centuries  was  expressed  in 
forms  that  were  adapted  to  the  intelligence,  the  educa- 
tion, the  modes  of  thought,  and  general  culture  and 
civilization,  of  the  age.  The  writers  of  that  period  are 
great  mines  from  which  many  a  stone  has  been  quar- 
ried, and  many  a  gem  taken,  to  build  or  adorn  the  sys- 
tems of  succeeding  ages  ;  but  we  might  as  well  attempt 
to  infuse  life  into  the  ichthyosaurus  and  the  megathe- 
rium, and  expect  them  to  live  in  the  changed  conditions 
of  our  earth,  as  to  attempt  to  express  our  religious 
thought  in  the  forms  of  that  period. 

The  mediaeval  theologians  had  their  peculiar  method. 
Stiff,  formal,  subtle,  and  scholastic,  they  remind  one  of 
the  old  armor-clad  knights  which  they  show  you  in  the 
Tower  of  London.  There  they  are,  man  and  horse, 
clad  in  complete  steel,  covered  with  coats  of  mail  from 
head  to  foot,  and  grasping  spear  and  battle-axe.  Tre- 
mendous fellows  in  their  day !  That  day  was  different 
from  ours ;  and  their  armor,  offensive  and  defensive,  is 
no  longer  of  service  in  the  day  of  battle.  When  the 
Reformation  came,  the  new  life  manifested  itself  in 
freer  forms  of  thought,  and  in  more  fluent  forms  of 
expression.  The  Reformation  was  a  great  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit ;  and  the  new  life  imparted  new  vigor  to 
the  old  truths,  and  clothed  them  with  new  forms.  The 
battle  of  the  Reformation  was  a  contest  concerning 
principles  vital  to  man's  happiness,  both  in  the  present 
life  and  the  life  which  is  to  come.     Its  early  struggles 


THE  THEOLOGY  FOR  THE   TIMES.  307 

were  for  justification  before  God  by  faith  alone,  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  word  of  God,  resistance  to 
indulgences,  and  other  Romish  corruptions  and  abiiM  s. 
The  victory  was  virtually  gained  before  the  reformers 
could  turn  their  attention  to  the  work  of  systematizing 
truth.  Then,  as  the  crystal  forms  under  the  calm 
water,  the  confessions  and  systems  of  the  Reformation 
era  began  to  appear,  a  new  day  had  arisen  upon  the 
earth,  the  old  truths  appeared  in  a  new  light,  and 
the  Christian  consciousness  found  expression  in  the 
writings  of  the  great  teachers,  of  whom  Calvin  is 
the  chief. 

Thus  the  theology  of  our  day  must  adapt  itself  to  the 
culture,  the  progress,  and  the  intelligence,  of  the  age. 
Those  old  and  ever-recurring  problems  which  relate  to 
God,  to  the  origin  of  all  things,  to  the  method  of  crea- 
tion, to  man's  position  in  the  scale  of  being,  and  his 
relations  to  God,  must  be  handled  in  the  light  of  the 
science  of  the  philosophy  of  the  age.  Those  who  are 
conversant  with  the  facts  and  speculations  of  modern 
science,  will  necessarily  deal  with  these  questions  in 
the  light  of  that  knowledge.  We  cannot  accept  Tur- 
retin's  argument,  made  in  the  light  of  the  science  of 
his  clay,  that  the  earth  is  the  centre  around  which  the 
sun  revolves;  nor  be  satisfied  with  the  arguments  for 
the  existence  and  personality  of  God  which  wjere  suffi- 
cient previous  to  the  day  of  the  modern  pantheism  and 
materialism. 

The  age,  although  in  some  respects  superficial,  is 
nevertheless  intelligent,  and  is  by  no  means  destitute 
of  minds  capable  of  dealing  profoundly  with  the  great 
problems  of  existence,  life,  and  destiny  ;  and  calls  for 


368  THEOLOGY. 

men  who  can  cast  a  longer  line  into  the  abysses  of 
thought  than  those 

1 '  "Who  go  sounding  on 
A  dim  and  perilous  wa}'," 

unillnminated  by  the  light  of  divine  truth.  Our  times 
are  eminently  characterized  by  a  practical  spirit.  In  a 
sort  of  unconscious  way  men  are  calling  for  practical 
truths  rather  than  speculative  dogmas.  What  they  wish, 
so  they  tell  us,  is  not  theory,  but  practice.  We  hear 
much  from  the  people  about  practical  preachers  and 
practical  sermons.  Let  us  hear  and  learn.  This  indi- 
cates the  felt  need  for  the  presentation  of  truth  in  such 
forms  as  to  bear  on  life  and  conduct.  Bacon  is  said  to 
have  brought  philosophy  down  from  heaven  to  earth ; 
and  our  times  demand  theological  instruction  which  can 
descend  from  the  empyrean,  and  apply  great  truths  to 
the  every-day  affairs  of  life.  However  high  we  may 
reason  upon  "fixed  fate  and  foreknowledge  absolute," 
we  must  not  remain  upon  these  Olympian  heights,  but 
descend  to  the  lower  sphere  of  common  thought  and 
common  life.  The  Christian  life  of  our  day  is  char- 
acterized by  fervor  of  spirit.  This  power  sometimes 
degenerates  into  mere  gush,  excitement,  and  sentimental- 
ism  :  nevertheless,  "  fervent  in  spirit "  is  a  characteristic 
of  true  piety ;  and  our  teaching  should  not  only  catch 
the  glow,  but  intensify  it.  "  Theology  on  fire  "  is  the 
demand  of  our  times,  divine  truth  coming  forth  from 
a  soul  kindled  into  flame  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Warmth 
is  a  prevailing  feature  of  the  great  London  preacher, 
who  in  our  day  preaches  the  fundamental  truths  of  the 
gospel  with  great  boldness  and  plainness  of  speech,  yet 


THE  THEOLOGY  FOR  THE  TIMES.  3G9 

upon  whose  lips  do  so  many  delighted  thousands  hang 
from  sabbath  to  sabbath.  Spoken  from  a  heart  touched 
with  the  fire  from  the  altar,  they  go  direct  to  the  hearts 
of  those  who  hear.  This  is  the  secret  of  the  power  of 
the  great  revivalist  of  our  time,  —  fervor  and  unction; 
hence  these  wonderful  results  of  which  we  have  all 
heard,  but  of  which,  perhaps,  the  half  has  not  yet  been 
told.  There  is  much  anticipation  of  a  great  revival  of 
religion  in  our  country  in  the  immediate  future.  God 
grant  that  these  anticipations  may  not  be  disappointed! 
But  if  we  are  to  witness  it,  and  if  it  is  to  be  a  genuine 
work  of  grace,  it  will  be  brought  about  by  the  truth  of 
God's  Word,  declared  in  fidelity,  and  carried  home  to 
the  heart  by  the  power  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 

III.  The  theology  of  our  time  must  be  aggressive. 
We  have  dropped  from  our  theological  terminology  the 
good  old  word  polemic.  If  we  do  not  bring  back  the 
word,  w?e  at  least  would  not  be  the  worse  for  a  little 
more  of  the  thing.  We  would  have  our  theology  a 
little  more  warlike  than  it  is  at  present.  Our  semina- 
ries should  train  men  as  soldiers,  to  fight  the  battles 
of  the  Lord.  This  is  not  just  the  millennium.  That 
"piping  time  of  peace"  will  come,  but  it  is  not  yet.  We 
have  not  done  with  controversy.  We  cannot  yet  beat  the 
sword  into  a  ploughshare,  nor  the  spear  into  a  pruniug- 
hook.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems  as  if  the  enemy  were 
gathering  for  one  last  final  onset  upon  the  cause  of 
Christ,  and  that  the  day  of  final  decision  were  near. 

The  fact  is,  that  we  are  just  now  in  the  midst  of  one 
of  the  hottest  conflicts  that  has  ever  been  waged  with 
unbelief,  —  a  conflict  from  which  Christianity  is.  as  we 
think,  emerging  victorious,  but  one  in  which  the  best 


370  THEOLOGY. 

thinking  of  our  times  has  been  taxed  to  its  utmost  capa- 
city. Theology  covers,  be  it  remembered,  the  whole 
range  of  speculative  thought,  and  of  practical  duties  as 
well,  and,  of  course,  must  come  in  conflict  with  false 
systems  and  with  wicked  living  in  all  its  forms. 

It  is  bound  to  teach  the  true  principles  of  civil  society, 
the  origin  of  civil  government,  and  the  basis  on  which 
it  rests.  It  is  pleasant  to  be  supported  in  this  view  by 
Dr.  Hodge  of  Princeton,  in  his  great  work.  Speaking 
of  the  laws  of  men,  he  says,  "  They  have  no  power  or 
authority  unless  they  have  a  moral  foundation ;  and  if 
they  have  a  moral  basis,  so  that  they  bind  the  conscience, 
that  basis  must  be  the  divine  will.  The  authority  of  the 
civil  rulers,  the  rights  of  property,  of  marriage,  and  all 
other  civil  rights,  do  not  rest  on  abstractions,  nor  on  the 
general  principles  of  expediency.  They  might  be  dis- 
regarded without  guilt  were  they  not  sustained  by  the 
authority  of  God.  All  moral  obligation,  therefore,  re- 
solves itself  into  the  obligation  of  conformity  to  the  will 
of  God,  and  all  human  rights  are  founded  on  the  ordi- 
nance of  God,  so  that  theism  is  the  basis  of  jurisprudence 
as  well  as  of  morality."  In  support  of  this  view  he  quotes 
Stahl,  the  greatest  living  authority  on  the  philosophy  of 
law.  This  view  of  civil  society  brings  theology  at  once 
in  conflict  with  all  opposite  theories,  and  with  all  institu- 
tions that  are  founded  upon  them.  Just  now  there  is 
much  need  for  the  practical  application  of  these  prin- 
ciples in  our  country,  that  the  destructive,  demoralizing, 
and  revolutionary  tendencies  of  other  theories  may  be 
counteracted,  and  the  republic  saved.  Can  any  man, 
observant  of  his  times,  fail  to  see  that  Romanism,  that 
old  foe  of  human  liberty,  is  again  rearing  its  horrid  front, 


THE  THEOLOGY  FOR  THE  TIMES.  371 

and  that  a  fierce  struggle  with  this  anti-Christ  is  pend- 
ing \  Theologians,  two  hundred  years  ago,  gave  it  that 
deadly  wound  which  has  not  been  healed ;  and  the  time 
is  near  when  they  must  come  to  the  front,  and  attack  it 
again  with  those  weapons  which  are  not  carnal,  but 
mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong- 
holds. It  seems  admitted,  both  by  its  friends  and  its 
foes,  that  the  struggle  with  it  in  Europe  can  only  end  in 
blood ;  and  we  are  firmly  persuaded  that  that  result  will 
only  be  averted  in  this  country  by  a  timely  exposure  of 
its  principles  and  purposes.  If  the  evil  of  intemperance 
is  so  great  as  to  threaten  not  only  the  morals,  but  the 
very  safety,  of  the  nation,  then,  again,  the  law  of  God 
must  be  applied,  and  the  religious  teachers  of  the  nation 
must  declare  the  whole  truth.  Are  secret,  oath-bound 
associations  forbidden  by  the  law  of  God,  foes  to  the 
Church,  and  dangerous  to  liberty  in  a  republic  %  Then 
another  field  is  opened  for  an  aggressive  movement 
against  these  numerous  and  rapidly  increasing  organiza- 
tions. In  fine,  our  times  demand,  as  it  appears  to  us.  a 
bold  bringing  to  bear  upon  them  the  power  of  that  truth 
which  is  the  wisdom  of  God,  for  the  regeneration  of  the 
world  that  lieth  in  wickedness.  Of  course  it  is  not  meant 
that  a  crusade  should  at  once  be  instituted  against  these 
various  evils,  only  that  in  the  proper  time,  and  with  the 
Spirit  of  wisdom  and  love,  the  truth  should  be  declared, 
and  these  prominent  evils  of  the  day  opposed. 

"We  have  been  in  armories  and  arsenals  where  the 
implements  and  instruments  of  war  are  arranged  in  beau- 
tiful order,  —  the  cannon  in  rows,  the  cannon-balls  in 
beautiful  mathematical  piles,  the  guns  in  tasteful  stacks, 
and  the  polished  swords  in  varied  order ;  these  things  in 


372  THEOLOGY. 

this  position  make  a  very  beautiful  show;  but,  when  the 
enemy  appears,  they  must  be  taken  from  their  places, 
and  used  in  the  conflict.  We  would  have  well-ordered 
confessions  and  systems,  arranged  and  polished,  but  not 
for  mere  show,  but  for  actual  use  in  the  great  moral  and 
religious  conflicts  of  the  day. 


SERMONS. 


THE    WORD.1 


"  Preach  the  Word."  — 2  Tim.  iv.  2. 

The  theme  presented  in  this  clause  of  the  great  apos- 
tle's charge  to  Timothy,  has  suggested  itself  to  my  mind 
as  eminently  appropriate  to  the  present  occasion. 

The  gospel  ministry,  whether  viewed  with  reference 
to  the  Divine  warrant  upon  which  it  rests ;  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit,  upon  which  its  efficiency  de- 
pends ;  the  transcendent  importance  of  those  truths 
which  comprise  its  subject-matter ;  or  the  momentous 
issues  suspended  upon  their  reception  or  rejection,  — 
rises  in  dignity  and  importance  above  all  other  functions 
exercised  by  man. 

Any  theory  of  preaching  which  fails  to  assert  its 
superiority  to  all  other  institutions,  or  which  would 
subordinate  it  to  any  other  agency  whatever,  we  reject, 
as  not  only  essentially  defective,  but  impious  and  dis- 
honoring to  God,  in  its  attempt  to  degrade  that  ordi- 
nance which  himself  has  instituted,  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  highest  and  holiest  purposes  among  men. 
As  we  have  seen  some  lofty  mountain  summit  rising  so 
far  above  its  fellows  that  they  seemed  to  have  been 
formed  by  the  Creator  merely  to  enhance,  by  the  com- 

1  Preached   at   the   opening  of    the  Reformed  Presbyterian   Synod  in 
Allegheny  City,  Penn.,  May  24,  1859. 
374 


THE   WORD.  375 

parison,  the  grandeur  of  its  ampler  proportions,  so  does 
the  preaching  of  the  Word  rise  above  all  other  instru- 
mentalities of  moral  and  spiritual  power,  —  shining 
among  them,  not  as  the  "  moon  amid  the  lesser  fires  of 
the  night,"  but  like  the  sun,  in  whose  glory  that  of  the 
stars  is  obscured,  in  the  splendor  of  whose  burning 
their  feebler  radiance  is  quenched. 

Luther  is  said  always  to  have  trembled  when  enter- 
ing the  pulpit,  —  not,  as  we  may  well  suppose,  from 
any  fear  of  man,  but  from  a  profound  conviction  of  the 
greatness  cf  the  responsibilities  involved  in  the  work, 
and  from  an  overpowering  sense  of  the  presence  and 
glory  of  God  in  his  temple.  Similar  impressions  have 
rested  upon  the  greatest  spirits  that  have  ever  engaged 
in  the  work.  "  They  have  seen  thy  goings,  O  God ; 
even  the  goings  of  my  God,  my  King,  in  the  sanctuary." 

That  the  office  of  the  ministry  has  been  sometimes 
degraded  by  the  incompetency  of  those  who  have 
assumed  its  sacred  functions ;  sometimes  by  efforts,  but 
too  lamentably  successful,  in  many  instances  in  the  past 
and  in  the  present,  either  to  curtail  its  proper  sphere, 
or  to  prostitute  it  to  other  than  its  legitimate  ends,  — 
no  one  will  assume  to  deny.  At  the  same  time,  it  may 
be  confidently  asserted,  that  to  no  other  instrumentality 
is  the  world  indebted  for  so  many  and  so  beneficent 
results.  Tyrants  have  heard  its  voice,  and  been  com- 
pelled to  listen,  to  tremble,  and  obey  ;  corrupt  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  organizations  have  bent  to  its  power,  as 
the  rush  to  the  storm  ;  giant  forms  of  oppression  and 
wrong,  smitten  by  its  truth,  have  fallen  to  arise  no  more  ; 
while,  from  the  weltering  seas  of  earthly  tumults  and 
commotions,  forms  of  social,  civil,  and  religious  order 


370  SERMONS. 

have  arisen,  as  the  world  from  chaos  at  the  command  of 
the  Creator. 

We  must  not  forget,  however,  that  preaching  derives 
its  chief  importance  from  this  amazing  fact,  that  it  is 
the  instrumentality  employed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
work  of  saving  our  fallen  and  ruined  race.  "When,  in 
the  wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God, 
it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save 
them  that  believe." 

Your  attention  and  indulgence  are  solicited,  while  I 
present  a  few  thoughts  upon  the  two  following  topics  :  — 

I.  What  is  the  Word  to  be  preached? 

II.  HOW    IS    THE    WORK    TO    BE    PERFORMED  ? 

I.  The  Word  is  the  whole  will  of  God,  as  it  has  been 
revealed  to  man,  for  his  salvation,  in  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

"  All  Scripture  is  given,"  says  Paul,  "  by  inspiration 
of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for 
correction,  and  for  instruction  in  righteousness ;  that 
the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished 
to  every  good  work."  The  Scriptures,  as  then  revealed, 
and  now  completed,  comprising  that  vast  system  of  all- 
comprehending  and  connected  truth  which  is  the  sum 
of  God's  revelation  to  our  sinful  and  fallen  race,  is  that 
Word  which  we  are  solemnly  charged,  before  God  and 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead  at  his  appearing,  and  his  kingdom,  to  be 
instant  in  season  and  out  of  season  in  proclaiming  to 
men.  We  have  but  one  theme:  our  sphere  is  not,  how- 
ever, therefore  either  narrow  or  limited.  This  Word  is 
one  as  God  is  one,  —  with  no  superior  and  no  equal, 


THE  WORD.  "77 

his  essence  simple  and  undivided,  his  perfections  infinite 
in  nature  and  number,  perfectly  inexhaustible  by  any 
finite  intelligence,  man  or  angel.  "  Canst  thou  by  search- 
ing find  out  God  ?  Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty 
unto  perfection  ?  "  One  as  the  universe  is  one,  —  in  its 
divine  Author  ;  in  its  harmony  and  beauty ;  unity  in  the 
midst  of  endless  variety  and  diversity  ;  in  its  manifesta- 
tion of  the  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  God. 

Of  this  Word,  Christ  is  the  sum  and  substance,  the 
Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last,  the  begin- 
ning and  the  end,  —  Christ  in  the  adorable  mystery  of  his 
divine  person  in  his  mediatorial  character,  offices,  and 
work  ;  in  his  supreme,  universal,  and  eternal  dominion 
and  glory.  To  reveal  him,  holy  men  of  God  spake  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  to  foreshadow  his 
incarnation,  were  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple  erected ; 
to  direct  the  eye  of  faith  forward  to  the  great  sacrifice, 
which,  in  the  end  of  the  world,  would  take  away  sin, 
while  instructing  the  worshipper  in  truth,  bearing  upon 
his  present  spiritual  interests  and  necessities  was  that 
gorgeous  and  impressive,  but  burdensome,  sacrificial 
worship  instituted  and  observed.  To  determine  defi- 
nitely and  accurately  the  relation  of  his  great  work  to 
the  world  in  its  various  stages  of  progress,  —  the  con- 
nection between  Providence  and  Redemption,  —  has  the 
stream  of  history  been  accurately  traced  and  mapped 
in  the  Scriptures.  To  animate  the  souls  of  his  fol- 
lowers with  hope,  and  stimulate  to  energy  and  activity 
in  his  service,  have  rapt  prophets  written  of  the  future 
triumphs  and  glories  of  his  kingdom.  The  atonement 
which  the  Son  of  God  made  for  the  sins  of  an  elect 
world,  is  the  great  central  point  around  which  all  these 


378  SERMONS. 

connected  and  collateral  ideas  are  arranged  in  the  order 
of  their  importance  and  connection  with  it ;  hence,  the 
great  theme  of  the  gospel  message  is  Christ  and  him 
crucified,  —  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  unto  all  people 
in  the  proclamation  of  which  the  silver  trumpet  is  blown. 
That  he  might  make  reconciliation  through  the  blood  of 
his  cross,  Christ  was  set  up  from  everlasting,  divinely 
appointed,  constituted,  furnished,  and,  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  sent  into  the  world.  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God 
is  upon  me,  because  the  Lord  hath  anointed  me  to  preach 
glad  tidings  unto  the  meek ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up 
the  broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives, 
and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound." 

This  was  the  message  which  he  committed  to  the 
apostles  and  their  successors  until  the  end  of  time  :  "  Go 
ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature ; "  accompanying  the  proclamation  with  the 
most  tremendous  sanctions,  "  He  that  believeth  and  is 
baptized  shall  be  saved  ;  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned." 

From  these  and  many  similar  declarations  of  the 
Divine  Word,  it  is  manifest  that  the  love  of  God,  revealed 
to  man  in  the  work  of  redemption  by  Christ,  is  the  theme 
of  the  gospel,  and  that  all  which  docs  not  bear  upon,  or 
is  not  in  some  manner  connected  with,  this,  is  excluded  : 
"  For  I  determined  not  to  know  any  thing  among  you, 
save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified."  The  apostle,  how- 
ever, evidently  did  not  design  to  separate  this  highest 
knowledge  from  all  others,  or  to  present  it  in  a  discon- 
nected or  isolated  aspect,  but  merely  to  assert  that  (his 
was  the  principal  thing,  and  that,  as  a  minister  of  this 
truth,  other  knowledge  would  be  esteemed  valuable  only 


THE  WORD.  379 

as  it  assisted  in  its  elucidation,  and  would  be  held  tribu- 
tary to  this  purpose.  In  this  period,  when  knowledge 
is  so  greatly  increased,  it  becomes  an  object  of  the  ut- 
most importance  to  determine  what  relations,  if  any, 
other  departments  of  thought  sustain  to  the  Scriptures, 
and,  consequently,  to  that  office  which  has  for  its  object 
the  exposition  and  enforcement  of  their  truths. 

1.  "What  is  the  relation  which  science  —  using  this 
term  in  its  technical  sense  for  nature-science  —  sustains 
to  the  Bible  ?  This  question  has  occupied,  of  late,  much 
of  the  attention  of  thoughtful  and  earnest  men,  and  is 
one  which  it  is  neither  possible  nor  desirable  to  ignore. 
Nature  and  revelation  are  both  volumes  from  the  hand 
of  the  same  intelligent  Author,  both  imparting  —  the 
one  in  a  form  more  limited  and  obscure,  the  other  in  a 
manner  definite  and  ample — much  relating  to  his  char- 
acter and  perfections.  "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of 
God;  and  the  firmament  sheweth  his  handywork."  Fur- 
ther than  this,  we  agree  with  McCosh,  and  others  who 
have  labored  successfully  in  this  department,  that  there 
is  a  Typology  in  nature  as  in  revelation ;  that  the  great 
idea  that  struggled  for  the  birth  through  the  various 
periods  and  stages  of  existence,  was  realized  in  Christ; 
that  Nature  adds  her  tribute  to  the  many  crowns  that 
adorn  his  brow ;  and  that  in  Christ  "  creation  and  the 
Creator  meet  in  reality  and  not  in  semblance."  There 
is  also  a  profound  harmony  which  the  Scriptures  recognize 
between  the  natural  and  the  spiritual  worlds,  that"  Nature 
which  from  her  seat  sighing  through  all  her  works,  gave 
signs  that  all  was  lost,"  when  our  first  parent  ate  the 
forbidden  fruit,  only  awaits  an  interpreter  to  proclaim 
"  through  all  her  works "  that    the   tempter  has  been 


380  SERMONS. 

foiled,  and  paradise  regained  through  Christ.  The  only 
confirmation  which  this  requires  is  a  reference  to  those 
lofty  spiritual  truths,  which,  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  he 
evoked  from  her  simplest  productions  and  processes  — 
"  the  things  on  earth  are  only  copies  of  the  things  in 
heaven." 

If  there  are  any  unable  to  trace,  or  unwilling  to  admit, 
these  more  recondite  relations  between  the  two  volumes, 
there  is  enough  upon  the  surface,  patent  to  the  most 
simple,  to  place  the  matter  beyond  the  region  of  doubt ; 
for  the  two  records  not  only  teach  in  many  instances  the 
same  truths,  but  they  touch  each  other  in  so  many 
points  that  none  can  be  so  blind  as  not  to  perceive  the 
connection.  The  visible  universe  furnished  the  inspired 
penman  with  their  most  magnificent  and  sublime  im- 
agery, and  conveyed  to  them,  through  the  medium  of 
the  senses,  their  most  lofty  and  animating  conceptions 
of  Jehovah.  The  first  chapter  of  Genesis  furnishes 
the  only  rational,  not  to  say  inspired,  cosmogony  that  the 
world  has  ever  possessed.  Many  of  the  declarations  of 
Scripture  can  only  be  verified  by  a  reference  to  the  nat- 
ural features  of  the  "  Land  "  in  which  the  "  Book  "  was 
written,  involving  its  geography  and  geology.  In  the 
explanation  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  Psalm 
to  which  we  listened  on  yesterday  morning,  our  brother 
must  needs  refer  to  the  "  topography"  of  Jerusalem. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  and  much  more  which  might 
be  adduced  to  the  same  purport,  none  are  so  ignorant 
as  not  to  know  that  some  of  the  fundamental  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  such,  for  example,  as  "the  unity  of  the 
human  race,"  may  be  not  merely  illustrated,  but  abun- 
dantly confirmed,  by  arguments  drawn  from  the  sciences. 


THE  WORD.  381 

Between  these  two  great  volumes,  containing,  as  they 
do,  the  entire  sum  of  God's  revelation  to  man,  there 
can  be  neither  contrariety  nor  contradiction.  A  com- 
plete understanding  is  only  necessary  to  a  complete 
harmony :  and  while  it  is  impious  for  the  mere  physicist 
to  attempt  to  array  the  facts  of  science  against  revela- 
tion, it  is  weak  for  the  theologian  to  array  his  exege- 
sis against  well-established  scientific  truths,  or  tremble 
for  the  ark  of  God  before  mere  theories  which  stand 
like  an  inverted  pyramid  upon  a  very  limited  induc- 
tion of  facts,  or,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  upon  mere 
hypothesis  ;  or  wage  war  against  any  branch  of  science 
merely  because  illegitimate  inferences  may  have  been 
drawn  from  its  facts. 

If  Ethnology,  following  in  the  pathway  of  nations, 
can  fill  up  the  "  hiatus  valde  defiendus"  in  all  history, 
and  confirm  the  account  of  the  inspired  record  as  to  the 
time  and  manner  in  which  the  nations  were  divided  in 
the  earth  after  the  Flood,  every  one  after  his  tongue, 
after  their  families  in  their  nations;  if  Geography  with 
her  line  and  measuring-reed  can  corroborate  the  dec- 
larations of  Scripture  as  to  the  boundaries  and  divis- 
ions of  Canaan ;  if  Astronomy  can  impart  enlarged 
views  of  Him  who  has  laid  the  deep  foundations  and 
set  up  the  lofty  pillars  of  the  universe,  who  binds  the 
sweet  influences  of  Pleiades,  and  looses  the  bands  of 
Orion,  brings  forth  Mazzaroth  in  his  season,  guides 
Arcturus  with  his  sons,  and  stretches  out  the  star- 
spangled  curtain  of  the  heavens  like  a  tent  to  dwell 
in  ;  if  Geology,  by  "  boring  into  the  solid  strata  of  the 
earth,"  can  throw  any  additional  light  upon  the  stu- 
pendous mystery  and  miracle  of  creation  ;  if  Anatomy 


382  SERMONS. 

and  Physiology  can  demonstrate  that  God  has  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men,  —  by  all  means  let  their 
assistance  be  invoked,  and  this  testimony  added  to  the 
great  mass  which  establishes  the  authority  and  divinity 
of  the  Scriptures. 

The  relation  of  science  to  the  ministerial  work  is 
one  of  entire  subordination.  She  must  appear  with 
veiled  face,  and  as  an  outer-court  worshipper,  when 
summoned  to  the  shrine  of  the  God  of  Israel :  "  Hith- 
erto shalt  thou  come,  and  no  farther."  "  Put  off  thy 
shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou 
standest  is  holy  ground."  The  higher  knowledge  al- 
ways subordinates  that  which  is  inferior.  Science  is 
the  handmaid,  not  the  mistress,  of  religion. 

2.  Between  theology  and  philosophy,  there  is  a  very 
close  and  intimate  connection.  Consequently  it  becomes 
a  matter  of  much  importance  to  determine  what  value 
is  to  be  attached,  in  preaching,  to  those  branches  of 
knowledge  which  belong  more  especially  to  the  depart- 
ment of  speculative  thought.  Theology  begins  where 
philosophy  ends,  —  that  which  is  ultimate  to  the  one 
is  fundamental  to  the  other  :  of  course  this  can  refer 
only  to  that  true  philosophy  which  has  always  perfectly 
harmonized  with  Christianity,  and  proved  in  all  ages  a 
powerful  auxiliary  in  the  battle  with  untruth.  There 
can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  many  of  these  specula- 
tions, esteemed  eminently  philosophical,  have  proved 
barren  of  useful  results;  and  that  the  great  system  of 
gospel  truth  exists  wholly  apart  and  independent  of 
them. 

The  pulpit  is  a  field  from  which  gospel-hearers  ex- 
pect  to  gather  the  golden  grain  of  living  and  eternal 


THE  WORD.  383 

truth ;  not  an  arena  to  which  they  resort  in  order  to  be 
delighted  by  a  display  of  mental  gymnastics,  or  the 
fierce  combats  of  intellectual  gladiators.  To  feed  with 
the  dry  husks  of  metaphysical  speculation  those  who 
are  hungering  and  thirsting  for  the  bread  and  water  of 
life,  is  to  dispense  stones  instead  of  bread  —  to  give  a 
serpent  instead  of  a  fish.  To  persons  of  ardent  piety 
and  spirituality  of  mind,  such  discussions  are  cold, 
cheerless,  tasteless,  absolutely  intolerable  —  broken  cis- 
terns, clouds  without  rain,  pits  without  water.  Attend- 
ance upon  them  is  the  mere  "toil  of  dropping  buckets 
into  empty  wells,  and  drawing  nothing  up." 

The  preachers  views  upon  the  origin  of  ideas,  the 
limits  of  knowledge,  the  nature  of  virtue,  the  founda- 
tion of  moral  obligation,  natural  ability,  freedom  of  the 
will,  the  existence  and  province  of  conscience,  with 
many  other  similar  and  kindred  questions,  will  necessa- 
rily exert  a  most  important  influence  over  his  modes  of 
thought  and  instruction.  True  it  is,  as  some  one  has 
said,  "  Tell  me  your  view  of  the  nature  of  virtue,  and  I 
will  tell  you  to  what  school  of  theology  you  belong." 
These  topics  force  themselves  upon  our  consideration. 
They  are  worthy  of  profound  attention ;  but  they  are 
seldom,  and  many  of  them  never,  suitable  themes  for 
the  pulpit.  The  scribe  well  instructed  will  not  permit 
them  to  usurp  the  place  of  those  grander  and  more 
momentous  truths  which  constitute  the  burden  of  his 
message.  We  must,  however,  be  careful  to  draw  the 
distinction  between  the  use  and  abuse  of  metaphysical 
power  and  knowledge  in  the  preacher.  All  truly  great 
preachers,  we  imagine,  have  been,  to  a  great  extent, 
metaphysicians  :  they  betray  profound  acquaintance  with 


384  SERMONS. 

the  philosophical  systems  of  the  day,  great  knowledge 
of  the  human  mind,  and  capacity  to  turn  such  knowl- 
edge to  account  in  the  detection  and  overthrow  of  error, 
and  in  the  elucidation  and  establishment  of  truth.  Of 
this,  Calvin,  Howe,  Edwards,  Hall,  Chalmers,  are  eminent 
examples. 

In  this  age,  when  old  errors  are  appearing  in  so  many 
and  varied  forms,  —  old,  dead,  and  long-since  buried 
philosophies  raised  from  the  grave,  their  bones  scraped, 
re-washed,  and  presented  anew  to  the  world,  —  acquaint- 
ance with  the  great  systems  of  speculative  thought,  both 
of  belief  and  unbelief,  appears  an  essential  element  of 
ministerial  qualification. 

He  who  knows  little  or  nothing  of  Spinoza,  Des- 
cartes, Locke,  Hume,  Kant,  Hamilton,  Comte,  Fichte, 
Hickok,  etc.,  may  be  a  very  good  practical  preacher, 
perhaps,  —  whatever  that  may  mean,  —  but  can  scarcely 
be  esteemed  a  competent  defender  of  the  faith.  Such 
knowledge,  however,  will  always  be  held  subservient  to 
the  one  great  end,  —  the  establishment  of  the  truth,  as 
it  is  in  Christ,  —  "  as  the  vessels  of  the  Egyptians  were 
dedicated  to  sacred  purposes  by  the  Israelites." 

Philosophy,  like  science,  must  wait  at  wisdom's  gates. 
"  Stand  thou  here,  while  I  go  there  and  worship." 

3.  Politics  —  politics  and  the  pulpit :  is  there  any  con- 
nection or  alliance  between  these "?  To  this  we  must 
give  a  decided  affirmative.  The  Bible  is  a  great  politi- 
cal work  ;  it  was  given  to  man  as  a  perfect  rule  of  faith 
and  manners  ;  it  deals  largely  with  nations  as  such,  and 
abounds  in  precepts  for  the  regulation  of  national  life 
and  conduct.  The  function  that  deals  with  the  Bible, 
cannot  be  divorced  from  politics.     If  this  blatant  outcry 


THE   WORD.  385 

against  political  preaching  meant  nothing  more  than 
that  discussions  upon  the  bank,  tariff,  internal  improve- 
ments, etc.,  were  unsuitable  for  the  pulpit,  and  a  profa- 
nation of  sacred  sabbath  time,  few,  we  presume,  would 
undertake  to  debate  the  point ;  although  we  might  ask, 
where  the  necessity]  13y  whom,  when  and  where,  has 
the  sacred  desk  been  thus  profaned]  Only  one  such 
discourse,  labelled  a  sermon,  do  we  remember  ever  to 
have  met,  — that  delivered  by  a  Unitarian,  upon  a  Xew- 
Year's  Day. 

From  whom  do  these  fierce  denunciations  of  political 
preaching  issue  \  From  the  Buchanans,  Toombses, 
Choates,  —  men  steeped  to  the  lips  in  all  the  moral  cor- 
ruptions and  profligacies  of  "  Old  Hunker"  politics,  who 
wish  to  remain  undisturbed  in  their  iniquity,  and  cry 
out  to  a  faithful  ministry,  as  the  men  possessed  with 
the  devils  to  Christ,  "  "What  have  we  to  do  with  thee, 
Jesus,  thou  Son  of  God]  art  thou  come  hither  to  tor- 
ment us  before  the  time  ] "  From  corrupt  and  time- 
serving ministers,  men  who  are  clear  upon  dancing, 
sitting  in  prayer,  the  use  of  tobacco,  and  other  kindred 
evils  ;  who  pass  acts  of  Assembly,  write,  print,  and 
circulate  tracts  by  the  thousand  upon  them.  But  the 
great  and  prolific  parent  of  all  sins,  the  "  sum  of  all 
villanies,"  "  the  most  atrocious  system,"  to  use  the.  lan- 
guage of  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  "  upon  which  the  sun 
ever  shone,"  must  be  passed  in  silence,  unrebuked  and 
uncondemned,  and  its  open  apologists  and  propagators 
welcomed  to  platform,  pulpit,  and  communion-table,  as 
the  most  precious  of  God's  saints,  and  the  very  salt  of 
the  earth. 

From    south-side    Adamses,   who    esteem   the    inter- 


386  SERMOXS. 

change  of  slaves  between  the  United  States  and  Africa 
—  that  is,  their  introduction,  through  all  the  horrors  of 
"  the  middle  passage,"  by  thousands,  to  the  Christian 
influences  of  the  rice  and  sugar  plantations  of  the  South, 
and  their  return,  by  that  amiable  and  eminently  pious 
institution,  the  Colonization  Society,  by  tens,  or  perhaps 
hundreds,  of  the  more  aged  and  infirm  of  those  "  held 
to  service  and  labor,"  or  the  more  troublesome  and 
dangerous  of  those  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  own 
themselves  —  one  of  the  grandest  and  noblest  mission- 
ary ideas  conceivable !  From  your  Dr.  Rices  and 
Plummers,  —  men  who,  taking  their  position  upon  the 
narrow  pou  sto  of  that  arrant  falsehood,  that  slavery  is 
not  a  "  malum  in  se"  are  attempting  to  uphold  a  system 
destined,  sooner  or  later,  to  fall  beneath  the  judgments 
of  an  avenging  God,  and  bury  them,  like  the  worship- 
pers in  Dagon's  temple,  below  the  remembrance,  ay,  be- 
neath the  contempt,  of  men  !  Do  not  say  that  we  single 
out  these  men  for  the  purposes  of  abuse :  we  mention 
them  because  they  are  representative  men,  and  in  many 
respects  the  best  of  their  class.  "  Do  you  see  that 
leader  ? "  said  the  driver  of  a  stage-coach  in  England,  to 
a  gentleman  who  sat  on  the  box  at  his  side.  "  Yes, 
sir  :  what  of  him  \  "  was  the  reply.  "  Well,  when  he 
comes  to  that  gate,  he  always  shies.  I  must  give  him 
something  to  think  of ; "  and  coming  down  with  a  sharp 
blow  of  the  whip  upon  his  flank,  the  spirited  creature 
darts  forward,  forgetful  of  the  object  of  his  former 
alarm.  These  leaders  must  be  made  to  feel  that  their 
fear  of  disastrous  results  to  their  particular  ecclesiastical 
organizations,  should  they  prove  true  to  themselves,  to 
the   oppressed  victims   of  an  outrageous  tyranny,  and 


THE  WORD.  387 

to  God,  is  wholly  groundless,  or,  at  all  events,  far  from 
the  greatest  misfortune  that  might  befall  the  cause  of 
truth  and  righteousness.  Ministers  must  make  up 
their  minds  that  political  preaching  will  be  peculiarly 
distasteful  to  such  hearers  as  Pierce  Butler,  whose 
moral  and  spiritual  sensibilities  were  outraged,  crashed 
through,  and,  in  fact,  crushed,  by  the  political  preaching 
of  Dudley  Tyng,  while  owning,  working,  whipping, 
selling,  hundreds  of  human  beings,  created  in  the  image 
of  God,  on  the  cotton  and  sugar  plantations  of  Carolina 
and  Georgia. 

When  the  celebrated  Robert  Hall  was  reproached 
with  meddling  in  politics,  he  replied,  "  The  plain  state 
of  the  case  is,  the  writer  is  offended,  not  at  my  meddling 
with  politics,  but  that  I  have  meddled  on  the  wrong  side!" 

Political  preaching,  in  this  land,  technically  means 
rebuking  great  national  and  political  sins.  Hinc  illce 
lachrymce.  This  kind  of  preaching  is  not  only  legiti- 
mate, but  the  very  kind  which,  in  this  age,  when 
national  iniquity  is  coming  in  like  a  flood,  is  especially 
demanded.  Against  unjust  and  aggressive  wars,  in- 
temperance, sabbath  violation,  slavery,  and  kindred 
evils,  let  the  artillery  of  God's  Word  be  directed  from 
the  forty  thousand  pulpits  of  this  land,  and  they  will 
fall  at  once,  like  lightning  from  heaven ;  sink  like  lead 
beneath  the  tide  of  public  scorn,  and  their  place  be 
found  no  more  at  all.  Against  these  enormous  evils 
the  pulpit  is  bound  to  protest ;  and  every  one  into 
whose  hand  is  put  the  hammer  of  God's  Word,  must 
deal  such  blows  upon  them  as  the  measure  of  his 
strength  will  admit :  so  corrupt,  however,  are  all  the 
political  parties  of  the  day,  that  no  minister  can  advo- 


388  SERMONS. 

cate  the  claims  of  any  one  of  them,  without  being  guilty 
of  a  monstrous  perversion  of  his  office  ;  to  descend  into 
the  arena  of  their  strifes,  is  merely  to  soil  our  sacred 
garments,  without  a  rational  hope  of  effecting  any 
beneficial  result  whatever. 

4.  Morals  —  morality  and  the  gospel  are  yet  more 
intimately  connected:  they  are  incapable  of  separation. 
The  Scriptures  contain  the  only  true  principles  of  moral- 
ity, and  the  sanctions  which  alone  can  enforce  them: 
their  promises  and  threatenings  are  alone  sufficient  to 
allure  men  to  the  practice  of  virtue,  and  deter  from  in- 
dulgence in  vice,  —  "  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come." 
The  inculcation  of  moral  truths  and  personal  duties  is 
too  often  mistaken  for  preaching  the  gospel.  There  is  a 
kind  of  unevangelized  system  of  ethics  which  is  noth- 
ing more  than  semi-infidelity.  To  put  the  speculations 
of  writers  upon  "  Moral  Science  "  in  the  place  of  evan- 
gelical truth,  is  a  perversion  and  a  mistake,  —  one  which, 
unfortunately,  is  but  of  too  frequent  occurrence.  What 
is  a  modern  fashionable  sermon  ?  A  smooth,  perhaps 
literary,  disquisition  upon  some  moral  virtue,  —  honesty, 
truthfulness,  kindness,  benevolence,  etc.,  —  varying  in 
length  from  ten  to  thirty  minutes,  read  by  one  of  those 
dainty  and  exquisite  ministers  that  Cowper  so  graphically 
describes ;  one  of  those  men  who  never  meddle  with 
politics,  but  are  "  all  minister"  from  the  most  faultlessly 
neat  of  manuscripts  or  portfolios,  the  leaves  all  turned 
with  the  proper  flourish,  the  sentences  with  the  proper 
inflection,  nothing  to  offend  the  most  fastidious  taste,  or 
disturb  the  most  sensitive  of  the  congregation,  "  smooth 
as  the  marble,  and  much  colder,"  a  body  without  a  soul, 
;i  sermon  without  a  Christ  or  a  Holy  Spirit. 


THE  WORD.  389 

For  twelve  years  that  prince  of  modern  preachers,  Dr. 
Chalmers,  an  unconverted  man,  attempted,  but  without 
satisfaction  to  himself,  or  benefit  to  others,  to  enforce 
morality:  not  until  he  received  the  unction  of  the  Holy 
One,  and  his  eyes  were  opened  to  behold  the  transcen- 
dent glory  of  the  cross,  did  he  find  "  himself  in  possession 
of  an  instrument  potent  to  touch,  omnipotent  to  trans- 
form, the  hearts  of  men."  Xo  one  will  ever  scatter  those 
';  burning  coals  of  juniper,"  which  melt  the  stony  hearts 
of  sinners,  or  wield  those  weapons  which  are  mighty 
through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds,  until 
he  has  discovered  that  the  only  true  morality  is  love  of 
Christ. 

The  secret  of  every  great  preacher's  strength  is  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  gospel,  the  truths  that  cluster  around 
Christ  and  him  crucified.  AVith  a  slender  frame  and  a 
weak  voice,  but  with  logical  precision  and  intense  ear- 
nestness, Edwards  bore  down  upon  his  hearers  with  these 
doctrines  until  he  compelled  them  to  grasp  in  terror  the 
pillars  of  the  Church  ;.  and  in  one  instance,  while  preach- 
ing that  awful  sermon,  "  Sinners  in  the  hands  of  an 
angry  God,"  a  minister  at  his  side  in  the  pulpit  involun- 
tarily exclaimed,  "  Mr.  Edwards,  is  not  God  merciful  as 
well  as  just  1 "  Xot  to  enumerate  other  examples,  this 
is  evidently  that  which  gives  its  effectiveness  to  the 
preaching  of  that  "  burning  and  shining  light,"  Spur- 
geon.  May  he  never  become  a  wandering  star  or  a 
meteor  of  the  night !  These  doctrines  are  to  be  preached 
according  to  the  divine  proportion  and  analogy  of  faith, 
giving  to  each  one  its  due  prominence,  and  sinking  none 
beneath  its  real  importance  in  the  great  system  of  doc- 
trinal truth.    In  this  our  safest  guides  are  the  "  Creeds" 


390  SERMOXS. 

and  "  Confessions  of  Faith,"  in  which  the  Church  has 
embodied,  from  age  to  age,  her  understanding  of  divine 
truth  in  scientific  form.  Of  these  we  give  the  prefer- 
ence, of  course,  to  the  "  Westminster  Confession,"  as 
presenting  the  most  complete,  harmonious,  and  truthful 
system  of  doctrine  that  has  yet  been  given  to  the  world. 
Some  one  has  recently  thanked  God  for  rash  men. 
"When  I  hear  one  of  the  most  popular  preachers  of  the 
day  —  and,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  add,  one  of  the  ablest 
and  noblest  men  among  us  —  saying,  "  All  that  there 
is  to  me  of  God  is  bound  up  in  that  name,  Christ  Jesus ; 
a  dim  and  shadow)7  effluence  rises  from  Christ,  and  that 
I  am  taught  to  call  the  Father ;  a  yet  more  tenuous  and 
invisible  film  of  thought  arises,  and  that  is  the  Holy 
Spirit,"  I  cannot  but  thank  God  for  Catechisms  and  Con- 
fessions to  teach  us  that  "  There  are  three  persons  in  the 
Godhead,  —  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
—  and  these  three  are  one  God,  the  same  in  substance, 
equal  in  power  and  glory,"  and  they  preserve  the  Church 
from  such  wild  presentations  of  her  most  precious  doc- 
trines. Men  talk  about  dead  creeds,  but  they  are  only 
dead  in  the  sense  that  we  fail  to  make  the  proper  use 
of  them.  When,  in  company  with  a  friend,  I  visited  the 
Navy  Yard  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  we  saw  the  cannon 
all  arranged  in  rows,  the  balls  all  piled  in  beautiful  and 
mathematical  precision  and  order.  Those  iron  dogs  of 
war  slumbered,  those  winged  messengers  of  destruction 
were  all  silent  and  still,  because  there  was  no  alarm  of 
danger  to  arouse  the  one,  or  errands  upon  which  the 
other  might  speed  with  the  message  of  death.  The  old 
power  was  in  them :  they  showed  us  an  enormous  gun 
that  had  put  a  ball  through  fourteen  thicknesses  of  sheet- 


THE  WORD.  391 

iron  as  easily,  apparently,  as  a  giant  would  thrust  his 
hand  through  a  sheet  of  paper.  Thus,  said  I,  we  do 
with  our  doctrines  :  we  put  them  away  in  beautiful  order 
in  our  Confessions,  Creeds,  and  Testimonies,  but  fail  to 
employ  them  as  we  should.  That  great  gun  is  the  doc- 
trine of  "  Justification  by  Faith,"  with  which  the  reform- 
ers of  the  first  Reformation  riddled  and  bored  the  hull 
of  the  Papacy,  until  she  has  been  leaking  and  flounder- 
ing ever  since,  soon  to  sink,  like  a  great  millstone,  in  the 
seas  of  God's  wrath  :  it  is  the  doctrine  of"  Christ's  Head- 
ship," the  great  truth  of  the  second  Reformation,  destined 
to  prove,  not  only  the  "  reviving  of  Scotland,"  but  of  the 
world. 

If  these  batteries  are  silenced,  it  can  only  be  because 
those  who  man  them  are  too  cowardly  to  bring  them  to 
bear  upon  the  enemy,  or  have  turned  back  faint-hearted 
on  the  day  of  battle.  The  state  of  the  Church  is  one  of 
incessant  warfare.  No  one  of  these  great  fundamental 
truths  has  fallen,  or  can  fall,  before  the  assaults  of  the 
enemy.  It  only  requires  more  zeal  and  courage  in  the 
employment  of  them,  to  manifest  that  they  are  mighty 
through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  the  strongholds  of 
sin  and  Satan. 

II.  How  we  are  to  preach.  Here  we  encounter 
opinions  which,  with  tongue  of  brass  and  lips  of  iron, 
we  would  fail  to  enumerate.  Almost  every  one  has 
some  standard  of  his  own  —  whether  true  or  false  mat- 
ters not  to  our  present  purpose  ;  more  likely,  however, 
to  be  the  latter  —  by  which  he  measures  ministerial 
excellence:  a  "Procrustean  bed."  which  the  preacher 
must  fill  precisely ;  if  he  comes  short,  or  goes  beyond, 
his  fate  is  equally  sealed. 


392  SERMONS. 

One  desires  nothing  more  than  the  simple  enunciation 
of  gospel  truth,  in  a  plain,  quiet,  conversational  style 
and  manner,  as  he  has  heard  a  sainted  father,  perhaps, 
instruct  his  family  around  the  fire  on  a  sabbath  evening, 
or  one  of  those  "  Theological  Professors  "  under  whom 
the  late  Dr.  M'Leod  was  accustomed  to  say  that  he  had 
studied,  discuss  a  "  question"  in  the  society  meeting. 

Another,  whose  intellectual  powers  are  of  a  somewhat 
higher  order,  delights  in  argument ;  wishes  to  hear  a 
truth  clearly  and  forcibly  enunciated,  and  then  supported 
by  a  long  array  of  convincing  proof.  It  is  not  enough 
that  an  error  be  condemned :  it  must  be  put  into  the 
vice  of  a  remorseless  logic,  and  crushed  to  death.  The 
speaker  must  rain  upon  it  "  chained  thunder,  and  hail 
of  iron  globes,"  until  it  is  overthrown  and  annihilated. 
Such  an  one  would  be  delighted,  though  the  discourse 
were  as  dry  as  "  Aristotle's  Ethics,"  or  as  destitute  of 
ornament  as  "  Butler's  Analogy,"  or  "  Edwards  upon  the 
Will." 

Another  desires  the  splendors  of  a  vivid  imagination ; 
the  glory  of  superb  diction ;  fervid  and  fiery  declama- 
tion ;  sudden  and  brilliant  flashes  of  thought,  bursting 
and  falling  like  rockets,  in  showers  of  pearls  and  dia- 
monds, upon  the  astonished  hearers  ;  can  only  be  satisfied 
when  lie  discovers  the  play  of  those  powers  which  arc 
given  only  to  the  horn  orator  and  poet. 

Feeling  is  the  great  point  with  some.  The  preacher 
is  judged  by  his  power  to  move  the  affections,  and  touch 
the  heart.  Enough  for  such  hearers  that  they  were  made 
to  feel :  instruction  is  not  much  sought  after  or  desired. 
The  discourse  would  be  measured  by  the  height  to 
which  the  waves  of  emotion  have  arisen  in  the  heart. 


THE   WORD.  893 

The  combination  of  all  these  excellencies  would  make 
the  perfect  preacher.  To  reach  such  a  standard,  how- 
ever, is  in  the  power  of  none  ;  to  approximate  it,  even, 
the  attainment  of  few.  What,  then,  is  the  course  to 
pursue  amid  such  diversity  of  taste  —  such  a  contrariety 
of  opinion  ? 

1.  Let  every  man  stir  up  the  gift  that  is  in  him,  and 
preach  as  God  has  given  him  ability  —  remembering 
that  he  is  not  to  please  men,  but  God ;  taking  no  man's 
opinion  for  his  guide,  no  man's  manner  as  his  model. 
Minds  are  as  different  as  features :  the  natural  endow- 
ments and  circumstances  which  have  contributed  to 
make  one  man,  are  wholly  different  from  those  which 
have  formed  every  other.  As  well  might  you  expect 
the  Hudson  and  the  Mississippi  to  exchange  channels, 
or  the  earth  and  Jupiter  orbits,  as  to  suppose  that  one 
mind  could  take  the  place  of  another.  The  attempt 
to  compel  them  does  violence  to  all  the  laws  of  our 
mental  constitution ;  is  wholly  impossible ;  and  excites 
in  all  observers  either  pity,  or,  most  probably,  contempt. 
Let  every  man  make  the  best  use  possible  of  those 
powers  that  God  has  bestowed  upon  him ;  employ  to 
the  best  purpose  the  talent  with  which  he  has  been 
intrusted ;  and  endeavor  to  be  himself,  and  nobody  else. 
This  is  the  only  honest  course ;  and,  besides,  it  is  the 
only  one  that  will  be  ultimately  successful.  It  stands 
opposed,  on  the  one  hand,  to  any  attempt  to  be  more 
than  we  are ;  on  the  other,  to  be  less  than  we  are. 
David  could  do  best  with  his  own  sling,  and  smooth 
stones  from  the  brook.  The  variety  of  tastes  to  which 
we  have  alluded,  is  not  an  indication  of  Providence  that 
we  must  attempt  to  conform  to  them  all,  but  that  there 


394  SERMOXS. 

is  room  for  the  exercise  of  every  variety  of  endowment. 
"Plain  gospel  truths  for  plain  people,"  has  passed  into 
a  kind  of  proverb  in  some  quarters.  Like  all  such 
phrases,  it  contains  some  truth,  doubtless ;  but  it  is  a 
monstrous  fallacy  in  the  way  in  which  it  is  frequently 
employed  and  understood.  If  it  mean  that  the  style  of 
the  pulpit  should  be  free  from  all  affectation,  from  ob- 
scurity, from  technical  or  scientific  terms  and  phrases, 
we  grant  it.  If  it  mean  that  Christian  congregations 
will  not  be  pleased  and  edified  with  massive  thought, 
with  cogent  argument,  with  figurative  language,  with 
happy  illustration,  with  classical  perfection  and  grace  in 
the  style  and  manner,  wTe  must  enter  our  decided  protest. 
If,  in  order  to  make  himself  understood,  the  preacher 
descend  to  the  level  of  commonplace  thought  and  lan- 
guage ;  if  he  supposes  that  mere  stale  truisms  or  flat 
platitudes,  uttered  in  a  style  imported  into  the  pulpit 
from  the  farm,  the  counting-house,  or  the  street,  will 
either  please  or  edify  his  hearers,  he  makes  a  most 
egregious  blunder.  Vulgarity  in  matter  and  manner  is 
disgusting  to  the  highest  and  the  lowest  alike :  the  affec- 
tation of  the  coxcomb  is  more  endurable  than  this.  The 
truth  is,  we  do  not  stand  so  far  above  the  level  of  our 
hearers  as  we  sometimes  imagine :  they  are  not  flattered 
by  any  attempt  to  let  ourselves  down  to  their  capacity, 
—  prefer  that  it  should  be  taken  for  granted  that  they 
are  something  more  than  mere  babes  in  knowledge. 
The  eagerness  with  which  the  masses  crowd  to  hear, 
and  the  appreciative  interest  with  which  they  hang  upon 
the  lips  of,  the  most  polished  orators,  sufficiently  demon- 
strate their  capacity  to  be  both  delighted  and  instructed 
with    the   very   highest    style    of  cultivated  eloquence. 


THE  WORD.  395 

Not  by  listening  senates,  not  by  the  elite  of  metropolitan 
audiences,  not  by  the  refined  and  educated  alone,  but 
upon  the  hustings,  in  remote  rural  districts,  by  the 
common  people,  have  the  greatest  orators  of  the  pulpit, 
the  platform,  and  the  forum,  been  heard  with  admira- 
tion and  delight.  Whatever  the  manner,  let  it  be 
genuine,  let  it  have  the  ring  of  the  true  metal,  and  the 
preacher  may  indulge  himself  to  the  full  bent  of  his 
power,  assured  that  thus  he  will  attain  the  highest  de- 
gree of  perfection,  and  accomplish  the  greatest  amount 
of  good  which  is  for  himself  possible. 

2.  Earnestly  —  this  is  compatible  with  every  style  of 
matter  and  manner,  and  is  essential  to  effectiveness  in 
all.  "Why  is  it,"  a  minister  is  said  to  have  asked 
Garrick,  "  that  you  actors  produce  so  deep  an  impres- 
sion with  your  falsehoods,  we  ministers  so  feeble  an 
one  with  our  truth  %  "  —  "  Because,"  said  the  witty  actor, 
"  we  speak  our  lies  as  though  they  were  true  :  you  speak 
your  truths  as  though  they  were  lies."  The  old  canon 
of  criticism,  "  If  you  wish  me  to  weep,  you  must  first 
weep  yourself,"  applicable  to  all  forms  of  speech,  is 
eminently  true  of  this.  The  man  who  manifests  by 
look,  tone,  and  gesture,  that  he  is  neither  convinced  nor 
impressed,  need  not  expect  that  he  will  either  convince 
or  impress  others.  Without  a  genuine  earnestness,  all 
the  graces  of  style  and  manner,  all  the  tropes  and 
figures  that  can  be  employed,  all  the  fury  of  voice  and 
gesture,  are  of  no  avail,  worse  than  useless  —  the  mere 
crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot  —  sounding  brass  and 
a  tinkling  cymbal.  On  the  other  hand,  though  there 
may  be  crudencss  of  thought  to  a  certain  extent,  rude- 
ness of  speech,  and  awkwardness  of  manner  ;  if  there  is 


896  SERMOXS. 

evidence  that  the  man  really  feels  his  theme,  is  impressed 
with  the  truth  which  he  is  attempting  to  inculcate ;  if 
heart  and  lips  have  been  touched  with  fire  from  the 
altar,  —  he  cannot  fail  to  impress,  and  impart  warmth  to, 
his  hearers,  and  gain  admittance  for  the  truth  into  the 
heart  and  conscience  of  those  whom  he  addresses. 

The  man  who  is  thoroughly  in  earnest  may  always 
be  sure  of  a  candid  hearing,  whatever  the  disadvantages 
with  which  he  may  have  to  contend.  He  who  is  not, 
whatever  adventitious  circumstances  he  may  call  to  his 
aid,  will  assuredly  meet  with  mortification  and  disap- 
pointment. Earnestness  may  not  atone  for  a  bad  cause: 
the  want  of  it  cannot  fail  to  damage  a  good  one.  A  bad 
man  may  possess  this  quality,  provided  he  be  sufficiently 
ambitious  :  a  good  man  will  never  be  found  destitute  of 
it.  "We  would  not,  with  Carlyle,  make  it  the  object 
of  worship,  or  its  presence  the  measure  of  character ; 
but  in  the  gospel  minister  nothing  can  atone  for  its 
absence. 

The  man  who  clearly  apprehends  the  great  truths  of 
the  gospel ;  who  believes  them  with  a  firm,  unfaltering 
faith ;  and  into  whose  heart  they  have  entered  as  a  prin- 
ciple of  action,  —  cannot  fail  to  manifest  a  deep  concern 
in  their  reception  by  others.  A  profound  conviction 
that  interests  of  eternal  moment  are  suspended  upon  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  viewed  by  those  to  whom  they 
are  addressed,  will  impart  to  the  mind  a  solemn  and 
serious  awe  that  cannot  fail  to  be  manifest  in  their 
delivery. 

God  has  furnished  us  with  an  inexhaustible  storehouse 
of  living  truth  from  which  to  draw  our  themes ;  truth 
which  possesses  an  undying  interest  for  the   universal 


THE   WORD.  307 

human  heart ;  truth,  which,  although  always  old,  is  ever 
new.  He  who  draws  from  this  fountain  of  living  waters 
cannot  fail  to  interest ;  while  he  who  betakes  himself  to 
the  broken  cisterns  of  a  heathen  philosophy,  or  of 
modern  speculation,  can  never  be  in  earnest  himself,  or 
impart  zeal  to  others.  I  need  scarcely  add  that  the 
earnestness  of  which  I  speak  is  not  the  mere  excitement 
of  animal  nature,  nor  the  mere  fervor  of  intellectual 
activity,  nor  alone  the  impassioned  glow  of  a  natural 
emotion  and  sympathy,  but  a  fire  brought  from  the 
Throne,  kindled  at  the  altar,  fanned  into  a  flame  by  love 
to  God  and  love  to  souls.  If  a  profound  conviction  of 
the  truth  is  essential  to  this  quality  in  the  preacher,  the 
latitudinarian  spirit  which  prevails  at  the  present  time, 
and  which  views  all  creeds  alike,  and  all  with  equal 
indifference,  must  be  fatal  to  its  manifestation.  The 
ancient  giant  was  invincible  while  his  feet  were  firmly 
planted  upon  his  native  soil :  the  preacher  must  stand 
firmly  upon  his  own  profession  of  the  truth,  and  draw 
his  vigor  from  the  distinctive  principles  of  his  own 
Church.  Lifted  from  that  his  strength  fails,  and  he  is 
easily  overcome.  This  zeal  for  the  cause  of  Christ  can 
only  be  maintained  by  a  close  walk  and  communion  with 
God  in  prayer.  If  we  would  learn  the  secret  of  the 
success  of  those  who  have  been  greatly  instrumental 
in  the  conversion  of  souls,  we  will  find  it  to  lie  in  their 
intense  earnestness ;  and  the  secret  of  their  earnestness 
in  this,  —  "  They  were  men  of  prayer  and  of  faitli :  they 
dwelt  upon  the  mount  of  communion  with  God,  from 
Avhence  they  came  down,  like  Moses  to  the  people, 
radiant  with  the  glory  on  which  they  had  been  them- 
selves intently  gazing." 


898  SERMONS. 

The  labors  of  4he  feeble,  the  languid,  indifferent,  and 
lukewarm,  never  have  been,  and  never  will  be,  blessed 
by  God.  The  man  who  finds  this  his  prevalent  tone 
and  habit,  should  seek,  by  all  the  means  that  God  has 
put  in  his  power,  for  its  correction,  and,  failing,  retire 
from  an  office  for  which  he  is  not  adapted,  and  to  which, 
manifestly,  he  has  never  been  called.  To  be  an  earnest 
minister  requires  exclusive  devotion  to  that  work.  No 
amount  of  natural  talent  whatever  will  suffice  for  failure 
in  this  respect :  no  man  can  give  any  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  week  to  any  secular  pursuit,  and  come  forth 
upon  the  sabbath  fully  fraught  with  the  message  of  the 
gospel ;  it  is  an  utter  impossibility.  The  work  is  great 
enough  for  all  the  time  and  all  the  powers  of  the 
mightiest  intellect  that  ever  lived.  Feebleness  and 
crudeness  in  the  pulpit  is  the  penalty  which  every  one 
pays  for  devotion  to  other  pursuits.  Where  this  is 
forced  upon  the  minister  through  want  of  a  competent 
support,  —  if  this  deficiency  arises  from  positive  inability 
on  the  part  of  his  people,  —  it  is,  in  most  cases,  an  indi- 
cation of  Divine  Providence  that  he  is  not  called  to  labor 
in  that  field :  if  it  arises  from  any  other  cause,  it  is  still 
more  emphatically  a  call  to  "  Arise  and  depart."  With 
a  considerable  acquaintance  with  the  financial  ability  of 
the  Church  in  this  country,  we  assert  most  unhesitatingly 
that  there  is  no  absolute  necessity  for  any  minister  within 
our  bounds  imitating  Paul  in  this  respect,  however 
important  that  they  should  be  like  him  in  others.  There 
is,  we  assert,  no  reason  why  all  should  not  give  them- 
selves to  prayer,  and  the  ministry  of  the  Word.  To 
congregations  we  would  say,  expect  to  gather  grapes 
of  thorns,  and  figs  of  thistles,  sow  upon  a  rock,  plough 


THE  WORD.  899 

there  with  oxen,  and  expect  a  harvest,  hut  do  not  expect 
to  profit  by  the  ministry  of  a  man  whose  mind  is  con- 
stantly distracted  by  worldly  anxieties,  and  who  is  com- 
pelled to  eke  out  a  living  for  himself  and  his  family  by 
labor  upon  the  farm  or  in  the  schoolroom.  It  is  God's 
ordination  that  they  who  preach  the  gospel  should  live 
of  the  gospel.  This  law  cannot  be  violated  without 
serious  harm  and  detriment  to  all  concerned. 

3.  Fearlessly  —  ct  That  I  may  open  my  mouth  bold- 
ly." There  is  no  class  of  men  more  admired  in  theory, 
none  who  meet  with  more  opposition  in  practice,  than 
fearless  ministers.  There  is  no  sphere  in  which  moral 
courage  is  more  essential ;  none  in  which  it  is  more 
difficult  to  manifest  that  virtue.  To  preserve  the 
golden  mean  between  timidity  on  the  one  hand,  and 
rashness  upon  the  other  ;  to  rebuke  firmly  the  sins  of 
those  whom  you  address,  and  yet  temper  the  admoni- 
tion with  the  due  measure  of  kindness  and  tenderness, 
—  requires,  as  every  one  must  see,  no  small  measure  of 
that  wisdom  which  is  profitable  to  direct.  His  business 
is  to  attack  sin,  and  that,  too,  as  it  manifests  itself  in 
persons  to  whom  he  is  bound  by  ties  intimate  and  ten- 
der, persons  whose  feelings  he  would  not  unnecessarily 
wound,  but  who  are  very  liable  to  attribute  to  personal 
dislike  that  which  was  intended  for  their  highest  wel- 
fare and  their  soul's  good.  It  is  difficult,  sometimes,  to 
expel  the  demon,  and  save  the  man — to  cure  the  disease, 
and  save  the  patient.  Every  minister,  like  every  parent, 
must  feel  the  extreme  delicacy  of  the  task,  when  he 
undertakes  to  attemper  firmness  with  affection,  and  to 
denounce  the  sin,  while  attracting  instead  of  repelling 
the  sinner. 


400  SERMONS. 

Again,  every  one  must  have  observed  how  very  few 
there  are  who  admire  that  courage  which  confronts  them- 
selves. They  enjoy  it  hugely  while  it  is  directed  against 
others ;  the  balls  cannot  fly  too  thick  or  fast,  provided 
they  strike  another  fortress  ;  the  weapon  cannot  be  too 
keen  that  takes  the  head  off  another's  sin,  —  but  their 
note  is  quite  changed  when  their  own  vices  are  the 
objects  of  attack.  That  which  they  admired  before,  now 
excites  animosity  and  opposition.  Moreover,  there  is  no 
one  so  much  exposed,  perhaps,  to  undercurrents,  to  se- 
cret influences  of  which  he  has  no  knowledge,  and  over 
which,  consequently,  he  has  no  control.  In  most  cases, 
we  venture  to  affirm,  the  true  ground  of  opposition  to 
the  minister  is  concealed,  while  something  more  tangi- 
ble is  levied  upon  and  pushed  into  the  foreground  :  the 
influence  of  many  a  faithful  minister  has  been  destroyed 
by  designing  men,  when,  had  the  secret  cause  been 
known,  they  would  only  have  met  the  scorn  and  con- 
tempt of  their  brethren  and  the  world. 

Notwithstanding  these  and  a  thousand  other  consid- 
erations that  might  be  adduced,  well  known  to  the  ex- 
perienced, the  ambassador  of  Christ  must  be  destitute 
of  the  fear  of  men,  which  brings  a  snare.  He  is  com- 
manded, "  Cry  aloud,  spare  not,  lift  up  thy  voice  like  a 
trumpet,  shew  my  people  their  transgressions,  and  the 
house  of  Jacob  their  sins."  "  I  do  send  thee  unto 
them  ;  and  thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  God.  And  they,  whether  they  will  hear,  or 
whether  they  will  forbear  (for  they  are  a  rebellious 
house),  yet  shall  know  that  there  hath  been  a  prophet 
among  them." 

No   consideration   of  whatever   kind   will    exonerate 


THE  WORD.  401 

the  herald  of  the  cross  from  a  full,  faithful,  and  uncom- 
promising presentation  of  the  truth  upon  all  points 
that  relate  to  life  and  godliness :  he  must  declare  the 
whole  truth,  and  keep  nothing  back,  remembering  that 
he  is  responsible  to  God,  and  not  to  man.  And  while  it 
will  be  the  aim  and  the  desire  of  every  right-hearted 
man,  to  commend  himself  to  every  man's  conscience  in 
the  sight  of  God,  and  to  present  the  truth  of  the  gos- 
pel in  all  the  attraction  of  a  sweet  and  persuasive  love- 
liness, in  order  to  win  men  to  Christ,  he  will  yet  feel 
that  necessity  is  laid  upon  him  to  preach  the  Word,  not 
according  to  the  will  and  inclination  of  men,  but  the 
command  of  God.  I  need  not  delay  to  expose  the  in- 
fernal Jesuitism  of  those  who  preach  and  publish  a 
mutilated  gospel,  on  the  plea  that  men  will  have  no 
other.  For  a  whole  gospel  and  a  whole  Christ,  the 
noble  band  of  confessors  and  martyrs  of  past  ages 
took  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  endured  all 
tortures  and  all  agonies,  and  witnessed  a  good  confes- 
sion before  many  witnesses.  That  demon  that  has 
taken  possession  of  so  large  a  portion  of  professing 
Christianity  of  the  day,  —  viz.,  that  we  must  give  men 
so  much  of  the  truth  as  they  will  receive,  —  must 
be  exorcised,  or  our  religion  will  go  down  amid  a 
night  of  darkness,  worse  than  the  thousand  years 
that  preceded  the  reformation  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. 

The  names  which  shine  brightest  upon  the  pages 
of  the  Church's  history,  and  brightest  in  the  roll  and 
record  on  high,  are  the  names  of  those  who  have  done 
and  dared  and  sacrificed  all  for  Christ,  who  have  "  stood 
up  for  Jesus  "  in  despite   of  all  opposition,  and,  like 


402  SERMOXS. 

Luther,  hurled  their  defiant  No  in  the  very  face  of  the 
mightiest  potentates  of  the  earth. 

Never  was  the  necessity  for  such  men  greater  than 
in  the  present,  —  men  of  the  "  lion  heart  and  eagle 
eye,"—  to  defend  the  cause  of  Christ  from  foes  within 
and  foes  without,  and  to  expose  the  complete  corrup- 
tion and  heartlessness  of  much  which  passes  under  the 
name  of  religion.  But,  alas !  their  voice  is  not  upon 
any  shore,  the  sound  of  their  footsteps  is  not  upon  any 
land. 

True  courage,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say,  does  not  con- 
sist in  denouncing  sin  in  the  abstract,  or  evils  which 
exist  in  other  communities  and  other  ecclesiastical  or- 
ganizations, but  in  meeting  it  face  to  face,  and  in  carry- 
ing on  the  conflict  with  it  as  it  exists  in  all  forms  of 
individual  and  organic  wickedness  around  us. 

"We  have  enough  who  are  the  champions  of  battles 
long  ago  fought  and  won,  who  are  bold  and  defiant  so 
long  as  the  opposition  is  an  "  airy  nothing  without  a 
local  habitation  or  a  name,"  but  who  have  no  relish  for  a 
hand-to-hand  encounter  with  those  great  organized  sys- 
tems of  oppression  and  iniquity  that  are  opposed  to  the 
kingdom  of  the  Redeemer  in  the  present,  —  in  these 
cases  prefer  the  mild  and  the  persuasive,  and  consider  it 
altogether  better  that  Christianity  should  not  come  in 
contact  with  existing  institutions. 

Had  the  Church  of  past  ages  been  of  this  mind,  no 
martyr's  blood  would  ever  have  been  shed,  the  sacrifice 
of  so  many  noble  lives  of  apostles  and  their  successors 
would  have  been  avoided,  and  untold  sufferings  escaped. 
Pity  that  the  Church  has  learned  this  wisdom  so  lately! 
If  we  arc  to  accept  such  views  now,  we  must  reverse 


THE   WORD.  403 

our  former  opinions :  the  past  and  present  admiration 
which  the  world  entertains  for  the  martyr  spirit,  is  a 
pernicious  sympathy  for  bigoted  and  misguided  zeal  ; 
and  those  heroic  deaths  from  which  even  unbelief  does 
not  withhold  the  tribute  of  its  praise,  but  little  better 
than  suicide ! 

Men  may  plume  themselves  upon  their  superior  wis- 
dom in  shunning  all  the  great  moral  conflicts  of  the 
age  ;  but  whether  they  will  have  equal  cause  to  con- 
gratulate themselves  when  they  appear  to  receive  the 
crown  of  a  faithful  and  valiant  soldier  of  the  truth  and 
cause  of  Christ,  is  a  point  upon  which  we  may  be  per- 
mitted to  entertain  at  least  a  doubt. 

4.  And  finally  —  All  must  be  done  in  entire  depend- 
ence upon  the  Spirit :  "  Xot  by  might,  not  by  power, 
but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  "  Paul  may  plant, 
and  Apollos  water,  God  only  can  give  the  increase." 
Christ  did  not  enter  upon  his  work  until  the  Holy  Spirit 
had  descended  upon  him  like  a  dove.  The  apostles  did 
not  go  forth  to  proclaim  his  gospel  until  they  had  re- 
ceived the  unction  of  the  Holy  One.  All  our  preaching 
will  be  in  vain,  unless  accompanied  by  its  power :  its 
breath  must  breathe  upon  the  slain  in  the  valley  of  vision 
ere  they  can  live.  The  blood  of  Christ  avails  to  cleanse 
from  all  sin,  only  when  applied  by  the  Spirit.  The 
Church  is  frequently  in  the  Scripture  compared  to  a 
field ;  but  it  is  only  fruitful  when  the  Spirit  descends 
upon  it,  like  ^  rain  upon  the  mown  grass,  as  showers 
that  water  the  earth."  "  The  word  of  God  is  quick, 
and  powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword, 
piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and 
spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner 


404  SERMONS. 

of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart "  —  this  power 
is  derived  from  the  accompanying  Spirit  —  "  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit  which  is  the  word  of  God." 

That  our  labors  are  not  greatly  blessed  in  the  conver- 
sion cf  sinners,  is  what  we  must  all,  however  sorrow- 
fully, admit.  The  seed  is  sown  ;  but  when  we  look  for 
its  springing  up,  it  nowhere  appears.  God  appears  to 
have  executed  his  ancient  threatening,  "  And  I  will 
make  your  heaven  as  iron,  and  your  earth  as  brass,  and 
your  strength  shall  be  spent  in  vain."  We  have  relied 
too  much  upon  our  own,  and  too  little  upon  the  Spirit's, 
strength.  What  we  want,  and  what  the  Church  wants, 
is  the  Holy  Ghost. 

When  our  prayers  ascend  like  pillars  of  smoke  to 
the  throne  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  from  on 
high,  then  may  we  expect  the  windows  of  heaven  to 
be  opened,  and  a  blessing  poured  out  until  there  shall 
not  be  room  to  receive.  In  answer  to  fervent,  united, 
and  effectual  prayer,  the  heavenly  rain  will  descend,  the 
wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  be  made  glad,  and 
the  desert  to  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

God  will  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  who  ask  him. 


OUR  NATIONAL  SINS. 


"Multitudes,  multitudes  in  the  valley  of  decision:  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is 
near  in  the  valley  of  decision."  —  Joel  iii.  1-4. 

Of  the  prophet  Joel  we  have  little  definite  information. 
It  is  known  that  he  was  of  the  tribe  of  Jndah,  that  he 
■flourished  seven  or  eight  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
and  that  his  prophecies  refer  to  that  disastrous  period, 
previous  to  the  captivity,  during  which  the  land  was 
rent  with  internal  feuds,  threatened  with  foreign  in- 
vasion, and  visited  with  desolating  judgments. 

His  prophecy,  however,  is  not  exclusively  confined  to 
these  times  and  events :  from  the  mount  of  prophetic 
elevation  his  eye  sweeps  the  future  ages  and  distant 
lands,  and  discovers  the  conflicts  which  precede,  and  the 
triumphs  which  follow,  the  progress  of  the  gospel.  The 
third  chapter  manifestly  describes  the  world's  great  and 
final  battle,  "  the  conflict  of  principles,"  "  the  war  of 
ideas,"  in  which  the  great  questions  of  truth,  justice,  and 
liberty  are  to  be  ultimately  and  decisively  settled. 

The  opposing  hosts  are  represented  as  very  numerous, 
multitudes,  multitudes,  —  the  friends  of  God  and  man 
upon  the  one  side,  and  all  their  enemies  upon  the  other. 
The  battle-field  is  the  valley  of  decision,  or  wherever 
an  issue  is  made  between  the  opposing  forces  of  right 
and  wrong,  of  truth  and  error ;  the  great  Arbiter  of  the 

405 


406  SERMONS. 

conflict,  Jehovah  Sabaoth,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  Lord 
strong  and  mighty,  the  Lord  mighty  in  battle. 

Xo  attentive  student  of  Scripture,  and  careful  observer 
of  the  times,  can  fail  to  see  that  we  are  entering  upon 
the  last  great  prophetical  epoch,  that  we  see  at  least  the 
beginnings  of  the  final  struggle.  We  are  evidently  upon 
the  eve  of  great  events  ;  the  time  of  the  world's  final  de- 
liverance draweth  nigh  ;  the  wheels  are  high  and  dread- 
ful, but  above  them  is  one  like  the  Son  of  man,  and 
they  are  full  of  eyes. 

The  conflict  upon  which  we  as  a  nation  have  entered, 
is  no  solitary  or  isolated  event :  it  is  but  a  part  of  one 
stupendous  whole.  We  are  but  a  single  division,  al- 
though a  most  important  one,  of  God's  great  army,  and 
are  but  working  and  battling  with  other  peoples  and 
nationalities  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  one  great 
end,  the  fulfilment  of  God's  eternal  purpose  of  beneficence 
and  mercy  to  our  fallen  and  sin-burdened  race.  Define 
that  purpose  as  you  may,  and  call  it  by  whatsoever 
name  you  will,  there  is  a  God  in  history.  Events  are 
but  the  progressive  unfolding  of  the  divine  plan.  The 
ultimate  issue  is  not  doubtful ;  the  battle  is  to  be  decided 
by  One  who  will  assuredly  do  right;  and  as  the  prophet 
represents  it  as  taking  place  in  the  valley  of  decision,  or, 
as  it  may  be  read,  concision  or  threshing,  we  are  assured 
that  the  end  will  be  the  triumph  of  right,  and  the  utter 
overthrow  and  destruction  of  wrong. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  minute  statement  of 
affairs  as  they  at  present  exist  in  our  country.  We  are 
all,  alas !  but  too  painfully  familiar  with  them.  A  mutiny 
—  for  it  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  revolution  —  of 
gigantic  proportions  has  been  attempted ;  one  which,  in 


OUR  NATIONAL   SINS.  407 

the  utter  absence  of  any  plausible  excuse,  has  no  parallel 
in  history,  and  which,  in  the  atrocity  of  its  designs,  and 
the  heartless  ingratitude  of  its  instigators  and  abettors, 
as  well  as  the  unscrupulous  rascality  of  its  conduct,  is 
not  surpassed  by  that  of  the  late  Sepoy  Rebellion  in 
India. 

With  this  iniquitous  insurrection  we  are  at  this  moment 
in  stern  conflict.  Our  fathers,  sons,  and  brothers  are 
absent  at  the  scene  of  strife  ;  some  have  already  fallen 
in  battle  ;  some  not  in  honorable  and  open  warfare,  but 
by  the  hand  of  brutal  assassins,  "  Thugs,"  which  the 
barbarism  of  slavery  has  created,  and  which  it  does  not 
scruple  to  employ  in  the  accomplishment  of  its  diabolical 
purposes.  We  assemble  in  this  peaceful  sanctuary  to 
invoke  the  blessing  and  assistance  of  Almighty  God  upon 
a  righteous  cause,  to  give  the  weight  of  our  moral  support 
to  those  who  are  called  to  bear  the  burden  of  its  heavy 
responsibilities,  and  to  prepare  ourselves,  by  careful  and 
conscientious  reflection,  and  prayer  for  the  divine  wisdom, 
for  the  duties  to  which  the  hour  calls  every  Christian 
patriot.  Let  us  beware,  lest,  in  our  confidence  as  to  the 
justice  of  our  cause  in  the  present  struggle,  we  lose  sight 
of  the  great  fact,  that  this  has  come  upon  us  because  of 
our  transgressions  of  God's  law,  and  is  a  manifest  token 
of  the  divine  displeasure.  There  is  much  lamentation 
over  the  horrors  and  calamities  of  civil  strife  in  certain 
quarters  at  the  present  time.  These  come,  for  the  most 
part,  from  those  whose  sympathies  with  the  rebellion 
are  scarcely  concealed.  Their  design  is  to  weaken  the 
hands  of  those  to  whom  the  management  of  affairs  is 
committed,  and,  if  possible,  bring  about  another  disgrace- 
ful compromise  with  the  iniquitous  system  upon  which 


408  SERMONS. 

our  present  difficulties  are  chargeable.  This  spirit  is  to 
be  condemned.  This  is  no  time  for  tears,  much  less 
such  crocodile  tears  as  these.  The  war  is  upon  us  :  its 
issues  must  be  accepted,  its  burdens  borne,  its  evils 
endured,  with  that  courage,  cheerfulness,  and  patience 
which  become  a  great,  free,  enlightened,  and  magnani- 
mous people.  We  accept  its  responsibilities,  and  will 
endeavor  to  discharge  its  duties,  as  we  shall  render  an 
account  to  God.  To  affirm,  however,  as  some,  running 
to  the  opposite  extreme,  have  done,  that  war  is  of  itself 
a  beneficent  agent,  and  that  the  world  owes  more  to 
war  than  to  peace,  is  to  betray  a  foolish  fondness  for 
extravagant  paradox,  and  contradict  the  wisdom,  both 
of  God  and  man.  Like  the  famine,  the  pestilence, 
the  earthquake,  or  the  storm,  war  may  prove,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Almighty,  the  agent  of  great  and 
beneficent  results.  This  does  not  alter  the  truth,  how- 
ever, that  war  is  of  itself  an  evil,  a  curse,  and  a  token 
of  God's  controversy  with  the  land  visited  by  this  deso- 
lating scourge-  It  is  the  garment  of  vengeance  with 
which  Jehovah  arrays  himself  when  he  comes  out  of  his 
place  to  punish  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  for  their 
iniquities.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  curse  does  not 
come  causeless,  and  that,  if  there  is  evil  in  a  city  or  coun- 
try,—  that  is,  calamity  or  distress,  —  that  the  Lord  hath 
done  it.  God  has  given  us  the  rule  of  conduct  under 
such  circumstances :  "  My  son,  despise  not  thou  the 
chastening  of  the  Lord,  nor  faint  when  thou  are  rebuked 
of  him."  Let  stolid  indifference  and  impiety  be  as  far 
from  us,  upon  the  one  hand,  as  pusillanimity  and  cow- 
ardice upon  the  other.  Bear  with  me,  then,  while  I 
briefly  call  your  attention  to  some  of  those  sins  which 


OUR  NATIONAL  SINS.  409 

have  justly  incurred  the  divine  displeasure,  and  which 
must  be  repented  of  and  forsaken. 

1.  Attention  has  frequently  been  called  of  late,  but  not 
more  frequently  than  the  importance  of  the  subject  de- 
serves, to  our  national  atheism.  God  is  not  acknowledged 
in  our  Constitution  of  government.  In  the  convention 
which  framed  that  remarkable  instrument,  it  has  been 
asserted  that  Benjamin  Franklin  proposed  that  God 
should  be  recognized,  and  the  name  of  the  Supreme 
Being  inserted  in  the  national  charter;  but  owing  to 
the  unfortunate  views  adopted  at  that  time  by  many 
enlightened  statesmen,  upon  the  subject  of  religion  in 
relation  to  the  State,  the  proposition  was  not  entertained. 
"Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  the  name 
of  God  was  expunged,  by  a  vote  of  the  convention,  from 
the  oath  to  be  taken  by  the  President ;  and  that,  when  our 
chief  magistrate  takes  the  oath,  he  swears  by  nothing. 
They  were  doubtless  influenced  to  this  course  from  a 
consideration  of  the  disastrous  results  which  have  always 
followed  the  unholy  alliance  of  Church  and  State.  They 
were  doubtless  conscientiously  desirous  to  guard  against 
those  abuses  which  many  of  them  had  witnessed  in  the 
Old  World  ;  but,  although  their  conduct  admits  of  pallia- 
tion, it  does  not  of  entire  justification.  They  went  too 
far.  No  organization  of  men,  least  of  all,  a  nation,  can 
afford  to  forget,  or  refuse  to  acknowledge,  their  depend- 
ence upon  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe.  He 
who  has  declared,  "  By  me  kings  rule,  and  princes 
decree  justice,"  will  not  forget  such  disregard  of  his 
authoritv :  he  has  not  forgotten  it.  What  is  this  thun- 
der  of  battle  which  shakes  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
but  the  voice  of  God  from  the  high  imperial  throne  of 


410  SERMONS. 

the  universe,  calling  us  to  acknowledgment  of  his 
name,  and  submission  to  his  authority?  Let  us  hearken 
and  obey.  Surely  we  intend  to  come  out  of  this  conflict 
a  better  people  than  we  entered  in ;  and  let  us  resolve 
that  we  will  start  forward  upon  that  new,  and,  as  I  con- 
fidently believe,  more  glorious  era  of  progress  upon 
which  we  shall  enter,  with  a  Constitution,  to  use  the 
expressive  language  of  a  distinguished  professor  and 
minister  of  a  sister  church,  "  all  written  over  with  the 
name  of  God." 

2.  But  this  is  not  sufficient.  The  Southern  Confeder- 
acy has  inserted  the  name  of  God  into  their  constitution, 
thereby  demonstrating  how  little  mere  words  are  worth 
when  they  do  not  stand  for  things.  Those  of  us  who 
trace  our  ecclesiastical  parentage  to  the  Scotch  Presby- 
terians, have  a  doctrine  which  we  call  the  "  Headship 
of  Christ."  It  means  that  civil  power  has  no  right  to 
interfere  in  matters  ecclesiastical,  but  it  means  more : 
it  declares  the  great  truth  that  Christianity  should  be 
the  fundamental  law  of  nations,  —  in  other  words,  that 
the  Scriptures  should  be,  to  use  the  immortal  phrase 
of  our  great  senator,  "  The  higher  law."  Kossuth 
declared  in  the  last  speech  which  he  ever  made  in  this 
city,  and  has  frequently  repeated  it  since,  —  a  fact  no  less 
mournful  than  true,  —  that  there  is  not  a  Christian  na- 
tion upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  There  are  nations  com- 
posed, like  our  own,  in  great  measure  of  Christian 
people,  —  nations  in  which  Christianity  is  protected  and 
respected,  and  which  are  in  all  respects  largely  influ- 
enced by  its  principle  ;  but  the  world  has  yet  to  see  a 
nation  declare  that  the  principles  of  Christianity  are 
its  fundamental  law,  and  that  the  golden   rule   is   the 


OUR  NATIONAL  SIXS.  411 

standard  by  which  its  policy  is  to  be  directed.  We  have 
not  only  driven  politics  from  religion,  but  religion  from 
politics :  we  have  banished  the  morality  of  the  Bible 
from  national  affairs,  and  introduced  in  its  place  that 
system  of  diabolical  ethics  whose  bitter  fruits  are  the 
ingratitude,  perjury,  theft,  and  treason  of  this  infamous 
rebellion.  We  have  sowed  to  an  earthly  and  tempo- 
rary expediency,  and  we  have  reaped  all  manner  of 
wickedness  and  corruption  ;  we  have  planted  the  vine 
of  Sodom,  and  the  grapes  are  gall,  and  the  clusters  bit- 
ter ;  we  have  sowed  the  wind,  are  we  not  reaping  the 
whirlwind  ?  Men  have  earned  among  us  the  reputation 
of  great  statesmen,  whatever  that  may  mean,  who 
appear  never  to  have  known  that  there  are  eternal  prin- 
ciples of  rectitude  and  righteousness  by  which  nations 
as  well  as  individuals  are  to  be  guided,  and  for  the 
violation  and  disregard  of  which  God  will  hold  them 
to  a  rigid  accountability.  Our  politicians  have  acted 
with  reference  to  party  interests,  have  been  governed 
by  the  promptings  of  personal  ambition,  have  shaped 
their  policy  in  obedience  to  the  demands  of  a  worldly 
expediency  ;  but,  alas !  how  few  of  them  have  placed 
themselves  upon  the  broad  and  safe  platform  of  truth, 
justice,  righteousness,  and  immutable  morality  !  Is  it 
not  time  that  we  should  change  all  this  ?  There  are 
cheering  evidences  that  the  chamre  has  already  com- 
menced.  I  am  much  mistaken  in  my  estimate  of  the 
men  whom  God  has  given  us  for  this  emergency,  if  they 
are  not  of  a  different  type  from  those  who  have  directed 
the  policy  of  the  nation  during  these  past  lean  and  evil 
years.  Let  me  not  be  misunderstood :  I  am  pleading 
for  no  national  recognition  of  sect  or  creed,  but  that 


412  SERMONS. 

we  should  set  the  world  an  example  of  a  great  nation 
conducting  its  affairs  upon  the  highest  principles  of  a 
recognized  Christian  morality.  "Who  doubts  that  this 
course  would  be  the  safest,  and  in  the  end  most  profit- 
able 1  Is  it  not  time  at  least  to  make  the  attempt  % 
God  grant  that  we  may  come  out  of  this  furnace,  heated 
seven  times  hotter  than  is  wont,  into  which  he  has  cast 
us,  not  only  safe,  but  purified. 

3.  Our  great  national  sin,  the  one  on  account  of 
which  God  is  now  specially  judging  us,  is  —  it  requires 
no  courage  to  declare  it  now  —  slavery.  We  have  been 
slow  to  learn,  but  nevertheless  we  are  learning.  The 
scales  are  rapidly  falling  from  our  eyes  :  the  character  of 
the  monster  which  now  clutches  the  throat  of  the  Repub- 
lic will  soon  stand  revealed  in  its  true  character,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all.  Some  whose  eyes  have  been  too  long 
sealed  to  admit  the  truth,  even  when  placed  full  before 
them,  continue  to  declare  that  slavery  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  struggle,  —  objects  of  pity  these  men  are,  not 
of  dislike  or  contempt,  —  while  other  some  are  deter- 
mined only  to  see  it  in  the  background,  and  attempt  to 
conceal  the  truth  by  giving  it  another  name.  The  intu- 
itive intelligence,  however,  of  the  masses,  sees  in  the  con- 
test nothing  else,  and  is  sure  that  it  would  never  have 
come  but  for  slavery,  —  equally  sure  that  it  can  only 
end  with  its  destruction.  There  was  published  recently 
a  frightful  tale,  which,  doubtless  many  of  you  have  read. 
The  story  was  of  a  young  lady,  who  saw,  while  alone  in 
her  room  at  night,  by  the  flickering  light  of  a  failing 
fire,  a  faintly  discerned  but  hideous  shape  of  terror  enter 
by  a  door  that  had  been  left  partly  open.  The  creature, 
uttering  a  frightful  moan  that  froze  her  blood  with  terror, 


OUR  XATTOXAL  STXS.  413 

accompanied  with  a  sound  like  the  rattling  of  a  chain, 
placed  itself  by  her  side,  and  laid  upon  her  what  ap- 
peared to  be  a  hand.  Every  attempt  to  escape  was 
accompanied  with  a  heavier  pressure  of  the  hand,  a  repe- 
tition of  the  unearthly  moans,  and  renewed  clanking  of 
the  chain.  When  the  morning  broke  upon  the  long 
hours  of  agony,  she  saw  by  her  side  the  ghastly  form  of 
a  maniac  who  had  escaped  from  a  neighboring  asylum : 
from  beneath  the  shaggy  locks  that  overhung  the  brow, 
from  which  reason  had  been  dethroned,  gleamed  upon 
her  the  fiery  eyes  of  the  devil-possessed,  from  whom, 
except  by  a  desperate  resolve  and  a  superhuman  exer- 
tion, all  escape  was  hopeless.  The  effort  was  made, 
and  was  successful,  but  not  until  the  springs  of  life  were 
dried,  the  hair  turned  suddenly  gray,  and  the  bloom  of 
youth  was  blasted  forever,  to  be  succeeded  by  the  tokens 
of  premature  age.  We  have  seen  during  these  past 
years  the  outline  of  this  dreadful  shape  that  has  tortured 
and  oppressed  us  ;  we  have  heard  the  moans  and  the 
clanking  chains  ;  we  have  felt  the  pressure  of  the  dread- 
ful hand.  Morning  breaks  —  it  is  indeed  no  dream  of 
the  night :  the  eyes  that  gleam  in  the  lightning's  flash 
of  the  rifle  and  cannon,  that  are  red  with  the  fires  of 
war,  are  tho  e  of  the  demon  of  slavery,  "black  as  night, 
fierce  as  ten  furies,  terrible  as  hell."  Is  it  not  time  to 
shake  off  our  lethargy,  seize  the  monster  that  has  broken 
the  limits  which  we  have  assigned  it,  not  merely  to  thrust 
it  back  into  the  place  from  whence  it  came,  but  to  destroy 
its  hated  life,  and  bury  it  so  deep  that  it  can  never  know 
a  resurrection  to  torment  either  us  or  our  children? 
What  though  our  national  resources  are  wasted ;  what 
though  there  be  a  great  mourning,  like  that  of  Hadad- 


414  SERMONS. 

rimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megiddo,  Hachel  weeping  for 
her  children,  and  refusing  to  be  comforted,  —  is  not  all 
this  better  to  suffer,  than  the  longer  continuance  of  this 
"  fivefold  barbarism,"  and  its  accompanying  twin  of 
profligacies  and  horrors?  The  mode  which  I  propose 
as  the  one  proper  to  express  our  repentance  before  God 
for  this  great  national  sin,  is  not  to  hold  a  convention  to 
deliberate  upon  it,  —  the  time  for  these  is  not  now,  —  nor 
to  appoint  days  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer,  to 
pray,  preach,  and  weep  over  it,  however  important  these 
may  once  have  been ;  but  to  rise  as  one  man,  acknowl- 
edge that  we  have  been  verily  guilty  in  this  matter,  and 
demand,  in  a  manner  not  to  be  mistaken,  that  it  be  now 
finally  and  forever  extinguished  by  the  proclamation  of 
liberty  throughout  all  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof.  But  while  all  these,  and  far  more,  as  to  our 
national  sins,  may  be  freely  admitted,  does  this  justify 
the  unnatural  rebellion  that  has  been  inaugurated  I 
Assuredly  not;  for  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  most 
of  our  errors,  as  a  nation,  have  been  made  in  the  attempt 
to  satisfy  the  insatiable  power  which  has  risen  up  for  our 
destruction.  The  fact  that  a  nation  is  chastised,  and 
chastised  justly  in  the  providence  of  God,  does  not 
justify  those  by  whom  the  punishment  is  inflicted.  God 
employed  the  nations  of  antiquity  in  the  punishment  of 
the  chosen  people,  but  not  upon  this  account  were  they 
held  guiltless  or  adjudged  innocent.  We  come  now  to 
consider  the  great  questions  which  are  in  controversy, 
that  arc  to  be  decided  in  the  present  struggle,  and  upon 
which  we  confidently  invoke  the  decision  of  the  great 
Judge  of  the  universe. 

1.  It  is  to  be  decided  whether  or  not  we  have  a  gov- 


OUR  XATIOXAL  SIXS.  415 

ernment,  or  whether  our  condition  is  one  of  hopeless 
anarchy,  —  a  most  important  question,  and  one  which 
cannot  be  decided  too  soon  for  the  interests  of  our  com- 
mon Christianity,  civilization,  and  civil  liberty.  The 
question  is  not  one  of  change  of  administration,  as 
heretofore,  not  whether  this  or  that  party  shall  control, 
not  whether  this  or  that  man  shall  be  President ;  but 
the  point  which  has  been  forced  upon  us,  and  which 
is  now  being  brought  to  the  dread  arbitrament  of  the 
sword,  is  whether  we  have  a  government  at  all.  The 
pretended  right  of  secession  is  preposterous,  strikes  at 
the  heart  of  all  social  order,  and  would  leave  society 
at  the  mercy  of  every  ambitious  demagogue  who  was 
possessed  of  sufficient  popularity  —  and  what  dema- 
gogue is  not  1  —  to  draw  after  him  a  band  of  followers. 
No  such  right  was  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution ;  the 
doctrine  has  never  commended  itself,  even  in  times  of 
peace,  to  any  noticeable  number  of  statesmen  ;  it  contra- 
dicts reason  and  common  sense,  and  could  only  have 
been  seized  upon  as  a  last  resort  by  men  whose 
desperate  cause  could  find  no  ground  of  justification ; 
it  must  be  regarded  as  the  thinnest  of  disguises  for  the 
most  atrocious  of  crimes.  Let  it  be  distinctly  borne  in 
mind,  however,  that,  fatal  as  would  be  the  right  of  seces- 
sion to  the  existence  of  government,  the  insurrectionists 
are  not  satisfied  with  it ;  that  it  is  a  mere  pretence 
which  they  put  forward  to  conceal  deeper  and  more 
ulterior  purposes.  They  are  sagacious  enough  to  know 
that  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  is  not  an  impassable  gulf, 
like  that  between  Dives  and  Lazarus ;  it  cannot  be 
transformed  into  a  wall  of  adamant  high  as  heaven : 
that  there  is  no  pretended  grievance  of  which  they  com- 


416  SERMONS. 

plain  which  would  not  be  aggravated  by  a  simple  sepa- 
ration of  the  free  and  the  slave  States ;  hence  they  aim 
at  the  very  destruction  of  the  government,  to  strike  a 
blow  which  would  render  the  North  powerless,  and 
leave  them  at  liberty  to  dictate  such  terms  as  they  deem 
most  desirable  for  themselves.  There  was  a  time  when 
many  said,  if  they  desire  to  go,  let  them  ;  if  they  are 
weary  of  the  partnership,  let  it  be  dissolved ;  why 
attempt  to  detain  them?  They  have  only  been  a  bur- 
den and  a  curse  :  we  shall  be  stronger  without  them. 
A  very  short  time,  however,  served  to  dispel  the  illusion, 
and  show  us  the  true  character  of  the  issue  that  was 
made.  "While  they  were  in  words  pleading  the  right 
of  secession,  and  declaiming  against  coercion,  and  assev- 
erating that  all  they  wished  was  to  be  let  alone,  they 
were  improving  the  opportunity  to  rob  the  national 
treasury  of  millions  of  our  money ;  to  prepare,  and 
drill,  and  equip  with  the  weapons  which  they  had  stolen 
from  us,  an  army  to  capture  the  capital,  to  seize  and 
occupy  the  fortresses  of  the  country;  in  fine,  to  mature 
one  of  the  most  cunning  and  infamous  plots  which  the 
history  of  the  world  records.  The  present  administration 
entered  upon  its  duties  under  circumstances  the  most 
embarrassing  conceivable,  —  the  treasury  emptied  by 
successful  robbery,  surrounded  by  men  acquainted  with 
all  the  machinery  of  the  government,  but  of  doubtful 
fidelity ;  the  army  demoralized,  the  navy  scattered  to 
the  four  corners  of  the  earth  ;  and  the  waves  of  rebel- 
lion rising  and  swelling  like  an  angry  sea  in  the  States 
surrounding  the  seat  of  government.  lie  in  whose 
hand  is  the  hearts  of  men,  and  who  turns  them  whither- 
soever lie  will,  as  the  rivers  of  water  are  turned  ;  who 


OUR  NATIONAL  SINS.  417 

stilleth  the  noise  of  the  seas,  the  noise  of  their  waves, 
and  the  tumults  of  the  people  ;  who  says  to  the  raging 
passions  of  men,  as  to  the  angry  billows,  Hitherto  shalt 
thou  come,  and  no  farther,  and  here  shall  thy  proud 
waves  be  stayed, —  alone  prevented  the  accomplishment 
of  the  treason,  and  the  entire  triumph  of  the  diabolical 
plot.  While  we  accord  the  due  meed  of  praise  to  those 
who  have  so  discreetly  and  wisely  conducted  affairs  in 
this  dangerous  emergency,  to  God  must  we  give  the 
glory,  and,  bowing  reverently  before  his  throne,  acknowl- 
edge that  his  hand  has  done  all  these  things.  Who  but 
God  himself,  who  first  maddens  those  whom  he  designs 
to  destroy,  could  have  infused  the  frenzy  that  impelled 
the  attack  upon  Sumter?  Who  can  fail  to  recognize 
his  hand,  and  bow  before  his  gracious  Providence  in 
the  wonderful  effects  of  that  first,  to  us  happy,  but 
to  Secession  fatal,  success  ?  The  thunders  of  those 
cannon  were  heard  in  every  American  home,  from  the 
pine  forests  of  Maine  to  the  "  continuous  woods  where 
rolls  the  Oregon :  "  the  terrible  instinct  of  self-preserva- 
tion was  aroused ;  every  heart  was  fired  with  a  single 
impulse ;  the  nation  arose,  like  a  giant  refreshed  by  wine, 
and  has  gone  forth,  like  a  lion  from  the  swellings  of 
Jordan,  to  avenge  the  insult,  and  to  save  the  country 
from  the  curse  of  treason.  "  From  the  blood  of  the 
slain  and  the  fat  of  the  mighty,  its  bow  shall  not  turn 
back,  nor  its  sword  return  empty,"  until  the  flag  of  our 
country  waves  in  triumph  from  every  high  place  in  the 
land,  and  every  traitor  who  has  risen  in  arms  against 
a  government  that  never  did  him  wrong  been  made  to 
bite  the  dust. 

There    is    a    magnificent    plant   which   flowers    once 


418  SERMONS. 

every  hundred  years :  our  country  has  been  growing, 
not  slowly,  but  rapidly,  for  well-nigh  a  hundred  years. 
This  noble  outburst  of  patriotism  is  the  splendid  flower- 
ing of  the  tree  which  wTas  planted  by  our  sires,  and 
watered  by  the  blood  of  patriots.  Let  us  but  wrait  pa- 
tiently :  the  fruit  wrill  come  by  and  by.  Let  it  be  under- 
stood this  is  no  war  of  sections,  or  strife  of  parties  :  the 
question  is,  wmether  nineteen  millions  of  the  freest  and 
most  enlightened  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth  shall 
tamely  submit  to  see  that  civil  order  which  they  have 
established,  demolished  at  the  will  of  two  or  three  thou- 
sand men  of  discordant  aims  and  principles.  Whether 
one  of  the  mightiest  nations  of  the  earth,  occupying  a 
foremost  place  in  the  splendid  march  of  our  modern 
civilization,  that  one  in  which  more  of  the  hopes  of 
humanity  are  centred  than  in  any  other,  shall  resign  its 
life,  leave  its  high  and  proud  position,  sink  to  the  level  of 
Mexico  and  the  South-American  Republics  at  the  com- 
mand of  Jefferson  Davis  and  his  infamous  Confederates, 
this  question  is  now  to  be  decided.  Would  that  it  had 
never  been  forced  upon  us  !  but  now  that  it  has  come, 
let  it  be  fairly  met,  and  may  God  speed  the  right !  The 
treason  has  been  checked,  baffled,  humbled,  but  not 
subdued.  The  declaration  of  Jefferson  Davis,  that  they 
only  want  to  be  let  alone,  is  as  hypocritical  as  that  of 
his  father  the  Devil,  from  whom  it  is  copied,  to  Christ 
in  the  days  of  his  flesh  ;  it  meant  then  to  retain  power 
over  all  that  he  had  already  possessed,  with  the  unre- 
strained privilege  of  possessing  as  many  more  as  he 
desired  ;  it  means  precisely  the  same  now.  Christ  did 
not  come  to  let  Satan  alone,  but  to  cast  him  out,  bind 
him  with  a  great  chain,  and  destroy  his  kingdom.     The 


OUR  NATIONAL  SIXS.  419 

same  is  our  design  now :  waiving  all  reference  to  the 
modesty  of  the  request,  we  simply  say,  it  cannot  be 
granted. 

2.  "We  are  to  decide  our  right  of  self-government. 
We  have  thought  this  question  settled.  "With  us  of  the 
North  it  has  been  settled.  Had  the  South  elected  any 
of  the  three  candidates  nominated  in  opposition  to  the 
successful  one,  we  should  have  acquiesced,  not,  per- 
haps, without  criticism,  not  without  the  free  expression 
of  opinion,  but  with  no  word  of  revolution,  much  less  of 
insurrection.  The  people,  we  would  have  said,  have 
willed  it :  it  is  our  duty  to  submit.  But  it  so  occurred 
that  the  candidate  with  Northern  proclivities  was  suc- 
cessful :  and  the  South  has  arisen,  and  declared  that  she 
would  not  submit ;  not  the  people  of  the  South,  it  is  true, 
—  for  their  masters  have  not  asked  their  opinion,  —  but 
the  men  who  control  her  destiny,  and  shape  her  policy. 
The  issue  is  fairly  and  distinctly  made  :  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  rebellion  was  the  election  in  legal  form  and 
Constitutional  manner  of  a  President  of  the  United 
States.  This  no  one  attempts  to  deny  :  this  is  upon  all 
hands  admitted.  The  South  said,  "  You  have  elected 
Abraham  Lincoln :  we  will  not  submit."  Attempts  at 
conciliation  have  been  scorned :  they  have  laughed  at 
proposed  compromise,  and  said  in  plain  terms, "  "We  will 
no*  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us."  "Was  there  ever 
a  fairer  or  plainer  issue  ?  Was  there  ever  a  more 
important  one  presented  to  any  people  ?  Shall  the 
nineteen  millions  of  freemen  speaking  through  the 
ballot-box  be  obeyed  ?  or  the  ambitious  and  disap- 
pointed aspirants  of  a  rejected  policy  annul  their  de- 
cisions,   and   control    the   nation  \   .  Who    shall    yield, 


420  SERMONS. 

Hercules,  or  the  hydra  %  It  is  indeed  passing  strange 
that  any  one,  near  or  remote,  should  infer  from  our 
present  struggle  that  Republicanism  is  a  hopeless  ex- 
periment or  a  failure :  the  noble  tree  is  but  battling 
with  the  storm,  and  wrestling  with  the  tempest ;  when 
the  storm  has  passed,  the  world  will  see  that  it  has  but 
gathered  strength  from  the  conflict.  Shooting  its  roots 
downward,  and  extending  its  boughs  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific,  from  the  Northern  Lakes  to  the 
Southern  Gulf,  it  will  again  invite  men  of  all  colors 
and  climes  to  repose  under  its  shadow,  and  eat  the  fruits 
of  liberty  and  peace.  The  storm  is  abroad  in  its  wrath, 
and  the  waters  are  up  in  their  might ;  but  never  did 
ship  defy  the  tempest  more  proudly,  or  ride  the  billows 
more  nobly,  or  laugh  in  the  face  of  the  hurricane  more 
gleefully.  Failure,  indeed  !  Not  a  sail  has  been  rent, 
not  a  mast  carried  away,  not  a  wave  has  yet  broken  upon 
her  deck.  Wait  until  she  goes  down,  or  refuses  to 
obey  her  helm,  or  becomes  water-logged,  before  she  is 
pronounced  a  failure. 

Whether  we  shall  maintain  our  right  to  self-govern- 
ment, is  the  very  question  now  being  tested.  Five  hun- 
dred thousand  men  stand  ready,  with  strong  arms  and 
eager  hearts,  to  defend  it  at  the  call  of  their  country,  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet  to  make  self-government  a 
splendid  success,  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  It  cannot  be 
possible  that  it  shall  fail ;  it  has  not  failed ;  nineteen 
millions  of  men,  determined  to  be  free,  and  to  have  a 
country  in  which  to  live  and  establish  liberty,  cannot 
fail.  With  the  blessing  of  God,  the  fears  of  friends 
and  the  hopes  of  enemies  shall  alike  be  disappointed. 

Tliis  great  question  is  to  be  decided  for  ourselves  and 


OUR  NATIONAL  SINS.  421 

for  the  world,  and,  if  we  succeed,  for  all  coming  time, 
in  the  valley  of  decision  to  which  the  multitudes  are 
gathering.  What  interests  are  depending  upon  this 
decision,  no  mortal  tongue  can  tell.  May  God  give  us 
wisdom  to  comprehend  our  responsibilities,  and  strength 
to  overcome  all  opposition,  from  whatever  source  it  may 
come  ! 

3.  Another  question  to  be  decided,  is  whether  slavery 
or  freedom  shall  triumph.  I  have  already  spoken  of 
slavery  as  our  great  national  sin.  The  issue  has  not 
been  made  directly  as  to  its  abolition :  nevertheless, 
refusal  to  submit  longer  to  its  insolent  demands  has 
brought  things  to  the  present  condition.  I  delay  not  now 
to  enter  into  any  discussion  of  the  Constitutional  question. 
"We  are  all,  I  think,  prepared  to  admit  that  far  too  much 
has  always  been  conceded  to  this  tyrannical  and  unnatu- 
ral system.  It  must  be  considered  a  sad  misfortune  that 
our  fathers  did  not  sternly  adhere  to  the  sublime  princi- 
ples of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  —  their  own 
majestic  interpretation  of  the  laws  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment, in  the  language  of  President  Lincoln,  —  and  at 
every  hazard  banish  it  from  the  new  republic.  Xot 
satisfied,  however,  with  a  simple  recognition,  and  with 
such  privileges  as  were  guaranteed  to  it  by  the  Consti- 
tution, and  such  concessions  as  have  been  constantly 
made  to  its  demands,  it  claims  now  equality  with  free- 
dom, lifts  its  shameless  horn,  and  claims  the  right, 
unchallenged  by  man,  to  go  wherever  Providence  and 
nature  may  carry  it.  This  issue  at  least  has  been  fairly 
made.  Shall  slavery  go  into  the  Territories,  and  obtain 
everywhere  a  national  recognition  under  the  Constitution  ? 
Shall  we  change  our  barracks  in  the  Park  and  on  the 


422  SERMONS. 

Battery  into  slave-pens  like  that  Bastile  that  our  soldiers 
have  broken  open  and  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  the  world, 
at  Alexandria,  Avhere  the  Virginia  trader  may  chain  his 
human  chattel  until  he  is  ready  to  ship  him  to  the  rice- 
swamps  of  Georgia  and .  the  Carolinas,  or  the  sugar- 
plantations  of  Louisiana?  Shall  the  splendid  domain 
for  which  we  have  poured  out  our  blood  like  water,  and 
our  treasure  like  dust,  be  accursed  by  the  presence  of  a 
system  which  has  already  turned  fat  lands  into  barren- 
ness, and  which  has  proved  the  fruitful  parent  of  un- 
numbered woes,  not  only  to  its  myriad  victims,  but  to 
our  country  ?  These  important  questions  are  involved, 
and  are  to  be  decided.  Shall  we  decide  them  at  the 
expense  of  our  own  blood  and  treasure,  or  by  the  de- 
struction of  the  system  itself?  This  latter,  all  will  soon 
be  compelled  to  admit,  is  the  only  wise  and  sure  course 
to  pursue.  If  this  war  should  end,  and  leave  the  system 
of  slavery  intact,  whatever  else  might  be  gained,  the 
impartial  verdict  of  history  will  be  that  it  was  under- 
taken to  no  purpose,  and  that  all  its  sacrifices  were 
endured,  and  all  its  expenses  incurred,  in  vain.  Is  it 
not  time  that  we  cease  to  mince  matters,  and  face  the 
realities  of  the  case  ?  Who  doubts  that  the  war  can  be 
most  speedily  and  safely  terminated  by  dealing  a  blow 
directly  at  the  system  itself?  And  why,  in  the  name 
of  humanity, ,  religion,  and  reason,  should  this  not  be 
done  %  Not  satisfied  with  the  wrongs  that  for  two  hun- 
dred years  it  has  inflicted  upon  the  African  race  ;  with 
making  us  a  by-word  and  reproach  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth ;  with  paralyzing  the  industry,  blighting 
the  prosperity,  and  impoverishing  the  soil,  of  the  most 
fertile  and  salubrious  portions  of  the  land,  —  it  has  seized 


OUR  NATIONAL  SINS.  423 

our  forts,  mints,  arsenals  ;  compelled  us  to  spend  millions 
already  in  a  useless  war,  and  muster  armies  to  beat  back 
its  insolent  encroachments.  Is  it  not  time  that  we  aim 
a  blow  at  the  monster's  heart,  strike  at  its  very  vitals, 
and  thereby  put  an  end  to  this  unnatural  contest  ?  Let 
the  men  in  authority  know  that  those  upon  whom  they 
must  rely  are  sick  of  these  gratuitous  offers,  which  are 
something  more  than  military  blunders,  to  put  down 
slave  insurrections ;  and  that,  if  our  men  are  to  be 
turned  into  slave-catchers,  the  best  and  bravest  of  them 
will  remain  at  home.  Why  this  odious  Caliban  that 
has  no  right  to  exist  should  be  treated  with  such  con- 
sideration, such  excess  of  politeness,  and  the  lives  of 
our  fathers,  sons,  and  brothers  hazarded  to  save  the 
blackest  traitors  that  the  world  has  ever  seen  from  the 
results  of  their  own  wickedness,  is  a  mystery  beyond 
the  ability  of  the  present  speaker  to  solve.  By  all 
means,  let  them  be  contraband  of  war ;  let  them  be 
turned  to  whatever  purpose  they  can  best  subserve.  If 
they  are  good  enough  to  plough,  plant,  and  hoe  their 
masters'  fields,  they  are  good  enough  to  fight  them  upon 
the  field  of  battle.  Let  them,  by  all  means,  as  fast  as 
possible,  be  enrolled.  Why  we  should  be  so  complaisant 
to  these  traitors  as  to  furnish  our  very  best  regiments  as 
marks  for  them  to  shoot,  game  to  kill  as  many  of  as 
possible,  when  thousands  of  those  whom  they  have 
robbed  and  spoiled  are  eager  for  the  fray,  is  more  than 
I  am  able,  I  candidly  confess,  to  discover.  But  the 
question  occurs,  What  is  to  be  done  with  the  slaves  of 
those  who  are  loyal  \  My  own  opinion  is,  that  loyal 
slaveholders  are  few  and  far  between.  If  any  such  there 
be,  they  will  be  very  easily  dealt  with,  and  be  perfectly 


424  SERMONS. 

satisfied  that,  in  this  the  day  of  her  trial,  our  country 
should  pursue  that  course  which  will  most  effectually 
quell  the  rebellion,  and  save  the  national  life.  Parents 
at  the  North,  trusting  the  national  generosity  to  treat 
with  them  hereafter  upon  the  principles  of  equity,  are 
willing  to  give  the  last  child,  and  expend  the  last  dollar. 
Is  the  nation  to  be  put  to  all  this  inconvenience,  to  this 
waste  of  blood  and  treasure,  for  the  sake  of  the  few 
slaveholders  who  yet  profess  loyalty,  but  who  are  not 
able  to  guard  their  own  slaves,  much  less  to  resist  suc- 
cessful treason  in  their  midst,  or  to  assist  us  1  Away 
with  such  nonsense  !  But  some  one  cries  out,  "  Would 
you  excite  slave  insurrections  1 "  And  all  at  once  terri- 
ble scenes  of  butchery  and  slaughter  rise  before  their 
minds,  which  fill  them  with  horror.  I  answer,  By  no 
means ;  but,  if  the  slaveholders  incite  their  slaves  to  rise 
by  their  own  madness  and  folly,  I  surely  would  not 
assist  them  to  put  them  down,  in  order  that  they  might 
be  the  sooner  and  the  better  prepared  to  murder  and 
butcher  us.  Let  that  be  their  task,  not  ours.  Perhaps 
what  we  heard  upon  this  point  is  only  talk :  so  it  would 
prove,  I  have  no  doubt,  in  the  trial.  I  do  not  believe 
that  there  is  a  regiment  in  the  army  that  would  obey 
orders  to  march  against  a  slave  insurrection,  or  that 
there  is  a  general  who  would  dare  to  put  them  to  the 
test ;  but,  if  it  be  talk,  it  is  very  disagreeable.  Let  us 
have  no  more  of  it.  If  there  are  in  the  Southern  States 
to-day  eight  hundred  thousand  able-bodied  men  who 
provide  the  rebels  with  food,  do  the  heavy  work  of 
their  armies,  and  whom  they  threaten  to  enroll,  if  need 
be,  into  regiments  to  fight  against  us,  it  seems  to  me  not 
only  a  military  blunder,  but  a  desperate  folly  and  wick- 


OUR  NATIONAL  SINS.  425 

edness,  to  leave  them  in  the  quiet  possession  of  such  an 
enormous  advantage.  I  firmly  believe  that  our  rulers 
only  want  a  hearty  expression  from  the  people,  and  that 
then  they  arc  ready  to  do  their  whole  duty.  We  have 
heard  the  leader  of  the  New- York  Democracy,  in  that 
great  meeting  that  was  held  in  front  of  this  church, 
declare  that  this  was  the  course  to  he  pursued,  —  and 
here  I  must  say  that  when  I  read  those  words  from 
Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  uttered  within  hearing  of  this 
place,  almost  on  the  very  spot  on  which  the  pastor  had 
the  honor  of  being  burned  in  effigy,  at  the  close  of 
another  meeting,  which  I  do  not  now  stop  to  characterize, 
held  about  eighteen  months  previously,  —  I  thought  of 
the  magnificent  expression  of  Guizot :  "  Providence 
moves  through  time  as  the  horses  of  Homer  through 
space.  It  makes  but  a  step,  and  ages  have  rolled  away;" 
of  the  more  sublime  thought  of  Holy  Writ :  "  With  the 
Lord  one  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand 
years  as  one  day." 

Our  Secretary  of  War  also  hinted  the  same  thought  in 
no  obscure  terms  in  his  address  to  our  gallant  and  patriotic 
Seventh  Hcgimcnt.  Let  these  sentiments  be  seconded  by 
a  hearty  response ;  let  those  in  power  know  that  there  is 
but  one  desire  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  —  namely,  to 
see  the  rebellion  crushed  and  the  war  ended,  —  and  that 
if  slavery  goes  down  in  the  shock,  like  a  great  millstone 
cast  into  the  sea,  never  to  arise,  our  satisfaction  will 
be  the  greater,  and  our  rejoicings  the  louder ;  let  the 
decree  go  forth,  and  there  will  go  up  from  all  corners 
of  this  broad  land  the  apocalyptic  shout  of  millions, 
as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice 
of  many  waters,  and   as  the  voice   of  mighty   thunder- 


423  SERMONS. 

ings,  saying  Amen,  Alleluia.  This  is  yet  wanting  to 
the  highest  enthusiasm  of  which  we  are  capable.  So 
far  from  injuring  our  cause,  it  would  stir  the  heart  of 
the  nation  like  the  blast  of  a  trumpet ;  for  down  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  below  this  surface  of  compromise, 
is  a  deep  and  inextinguishable  hatred  of  oppression — a 
profound  desire  that  slavery  should  come  to  an  end. 
Open  the  gates,  and  the  floods  of  this  sacred  animosity 
will  pour  forth,  to  sweep  it  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 
By  all  means  let  us  contend  for  the  Union ;  we  have 
determined  not  to  divide  our  magnificent  domain ;  we 
cannot  turn  back  the  glorious  floods  of  the  Missouri, 
Ohio,  and  Mississippi  to  the  Northern  Sea,  nor  cleave 
the  Alleghanies  and  Rocky  Mountains  from  base  to 
summit.  The  Lakes  and  the  Gulf,  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific,  have  been  united  by  an  indissoluble  bond  ;  what 
God  has  united,  man  shall  not  dissever  :  but,  if  our  blood 
must  be  shed  like  water  to  preserve  the  Union,  have  we 
not  a  right  to  say  what  sort  of  a  Union  it  shall  be  ] 
Or  shall  we  waste  our  treasure  by  millions,  and  sacrifice 
the  best  and  bravest  of  our  sons  in  the  strife,  and  be 
thrown  back  fifty  years  in  the  march  of  our  progress, 
and  then  permit  slavery  to  dictate  the  terms  of  union, 
again  bind  us  with  the  withs  which  are  now  broken,  and 
return  to  renew  the  stripes  of  these  years  under  circum- 
stances of  deeper  degradation  and  infamy  than  those  from 
which  we  are  now  emerging?  The  Union  which  God 
will  own  and  bless  is  the  Union  of  States  in  one  great, 
free,  and  powerful  Empire,  knowing  no  distinction  of 
color  or  race,  securing  equal  rights  to  all,  and  covering  all 
with  the  broad  aegis  of  its  benign  protection.  Accursed 
forever  be  all  unions  between  truth  and  falsehood,  vir- 


OUR  NATIONAL  SIXS.  427 

tue  and  vice,  civilization  and  barbarism,  freedom  and 
oppression  !  for  such  a  Union  we  are  not  prepared  to 
fight ;  for  such  a  one,  whether  we  know  it  or  not,  we 
are  not  fighting.  When  the  Union  is  restored,  it  will 
be  a  Union  of  States,  presently  or  prospectively  free. 
All  this  may  be,  perhaps  some  timid  friend  of  freedom 
admits,  but  this  is  not  the  time  to  say  it.  Well,  I  be- 
lieve it  is  the  time  :  the  sooner  we  understand  what  we 
are  about,  the  better.  The  Southern  Confederacy  has 
taken  its  position  upon  slavery  :  it  is  time  that  we  begin 
to  know  just  where  we  are  standing,  and  to  fight  and 
suffer  for  a  reality,  and  not  for  an  abstraction.  Is  any 
one  so  simple  as  to  suppose  that  Union  means  now  what 
it  did  two  years  ago  \  Then  it  meant  plead,  pray,  preach, 
for  slavery ;  fawn  upon,  flatter,  get  down  upon  your  knees, 
roll  in  the  dirt,  sell  independence,  betray  morality,  re- 
ligion, any  thing  to  please  slaveholders :  now  it  means 
stand  up  like  a  man,  gird  on  your  armor,  rush  to  the 
battle-field,  and  fight  to  the  last  man  and  the  last  drop 
of  blood,  in  order  to  save  the  country  from  the  sin  and 
curse  of  that  iniquity. 


CHEIST  m  HISTORY.1 


"And  one  of  the  elders  saith  unto  me,  Weep  not:  behold,  the  Lion  of  the 
tribe  of  Juda,  the  Root  of  David,  hath  prevailed  to  open  the  book,  and  to  loose 
the  seven  seals  thereof"  —  Rev.  v.  5. 

We  are  just  now  standing  face  to  face  with  one  of  the 
most  stupendous  revelations  of  Divine  Providence  that 
modern  times  have  witnessed. 

Events  that  no  one  foresaw,  whose  immediate  results 
no  one  can  determine ;  events  that  we  do  not  contem- 
plate at  a  distance,  but  with  which  we  are  intimately 
connected,  of  which  we  form  a  part,  —  force  themselves 
upon  our  attention,  and  demand  our  considerations 

The  storm  is  abroad  in  its  wrath ;  the  sea  and  its 
waves  roaring ;  the  floods  have  lifted  up,  O  Lord !  the 
floods  have  lifted  up  their  voice,  the  floods  lift  up  their 
waves.  We  do  not  contemplate  this  storm  and  these 
tumultuous  waves  from  some  high  eminence  of  safety ; 
we  are  in  the  midst  of  it,  tempest-tossed  like  those 
around  us ;  we  are  giving  our  money  for  the  support  of 
tlie  war  ;  our  sisters  and  brothers  are  on  the  tented  field  ; 
our  brethren  in  other  cities  have  been  for  many  days  in 
a  state  of  alarm  ;  we  do  not  know  how  soon  the  danger 
may  come  near  to  us. 

Surely,  this  is  the  time  for  the  wise  to  regard  the 
doings  of  the  Lord,  and  to  consider  the  operations  of 

1  Outline  of  a  sermon  preached  during  the  Rebellion. 
428 


CHRIST  IN  HISTORY.  429 

his  hands ;  for  it  is  only  as  wc  see  God  in  these  events 
that  we  can  understand  them,  have  any  quietness  of 
mind  with  respect  to  them,  or  save  ourselves  from  the 
despondency  of  unbelief  and  atheism. 

The  scene  presented  in  the  chapter  is  very  magnifi- 
cent. The  apostle  is  carried  up  in  vision  into  heaven. 
He  sees  an  awful  and  exalted  throne,  surrounded  by 
angels  and  saints  and  innumerable  living  and  immortal 
beings,  and  he  hears  the  music  which  comes  from  the 
harps  of  angels,  mingling  with  the  thunders  that  issue 
from  the  throne  of  God,  and  hears  the  very  voice  of  the 
Almighty,  as  it  were  the  voice  of  many  waters. 

Having  surveyed  the  scene  in  admiring  wonder  and 
astonishment,  his  attention  is  called  to  a  book,  written 
within  and  on  the  back,  and  sealed  with  seven  seals. 

A  strong  angel  is  heard  asking  who  is  worthy  to  open 
the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seals  thereof.  Xo  one  in 
the  universe  is  able  for  the  task,  and  the  prophet  weeps 
over  the  weakness  of  creation. 

In  the  midst  of  his  despondency  he  hears  the  voice 
of  one  of  the  elders  telling  him  of  one  able  for  the 
mighty  work.  "  The  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Juda,  the 
Root  of  David,  hath  prevailed  to  open  the  book,  and  to 
loose  the  seven  seals  thereof."  And  when  he  looks,  in- 
stead of  a  Lion  he  beholds  a  Lamb  ;  instead  of  some 
resplendent  and  majestic  personage  with  a  mien  too 
severe  to  look  upon,  he  sees  a  lamb  slain 

The  book  is  the  mystery  of  the  divine  Redeemer, 
scaled  from  mortal  sight,  but  known  to  the  one  that  is 
able  to  read  it,  and  understood  by  others  only  so  far  as 
he  reveals  the  contents,  lie  who  takes  the  book,  and 
opens  its  seals,  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


430  SERMOXS. 

This  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  is  he  who,  for  the 
suffering  of  death,  has  been  crowned  with  glory,  and 
who  is  made  head  over  all  things  for  the  good  of  his 
body,  which  is  the  Church. 

It  is  the  truth  of  Ezekiel's  vision,  —  the  Son  of  man 
above  the  unsolved  mystery  of  the  wheels,  and  presented 
here  under  another  aspect. 

Christ,  the  God  of  Providence,  is  the  theme  of  the 
text. 

I.  All  events  are  to  be  ascribed  to  Christ  as  Media- 
tor. This  is  the  uniform  teaching  of  Scripture.  These 
outward  and  visible  works  and  agencies,  that  in  the  old 
Testament  are  ascribed  to  Jehovah  and  Elohim,  are  to 
be  ascribed  to  Christ  in  his  official  delegated  character 
as  Mediator.  The  great  pervading,  controlling  thought 
of  the  Old-Testament  Scriptures,  is  that  of  a  Deliverer, 
who  was  to  appear  and  set  up,  in  process  of  time,  a 
kingdom  that  should  never  be  moved.  And  as  this 
Deliverer  was  no  other  than  the  Son  of  God,  we  find 
constant  allusion  to  him  in  the  Scriptures  :  events  are 
attributed  to  him,  and  are  brought  about  by  his  inter- 
position. He  led  his  people  by  his  power  out  of  Egypt, 
conducted  them  in  their  march  through  the  wilderness, 
controlled  the  nations  that  lay  contiguous  to  their  route, 
established  his  people  in  Canaan,  and  ordered  all  that 
related  to  their  affairs.  To  attempt  to  quote  the  pas- 
sages that  teach  this,  would  be  altogether  superfluous. 

But  more  particularly  we  remark,  — 
•1.  Christ  is   the    Author  of  all   events:    they  take 
place  by  his  power  or  permission. 

This  is  true  of  all  events ;  nothing  occurs  by  chance ; 
it  is  an  axiom  that  there  is  a  reason  for  every  thing. 


CHRIST  IX  HISTORY.  431 

Events  are  all  connected:  they  are  the  parts  of  one  whole, 
all  having  a  relation  to  one  another  and  to  the  proposed 
end. 

Every  thing  being  under  the  control  of  Christ,  and 
all  being  directed  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes, 
it  is  a  necessary  conclusion  that  all  events  are  dependent, 
even  for  their  origination,  upon  his  will. 

This  is  true  of  such  terrible  events  as  those  that  are 
transpiring  in  our  own  land.  "  Is  there  evil  in  a  city, 
and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  it  \ "  Judgments  as  well 
as  blessings  come  from  his  hand.  He  that  saith, "  Come, 
ye  blessed  of  my  Father,"  says  also,  "  Depart  from  me,  ye 
cursed."  "  I  am  come,"  he  says,  "  to  send  fire  upon  the 
earth ;  and  what  will  I,  if  it  be  already  kindled  X "  Prov- 
idence is  a  mingled  revelation,  mingled  of  truth  and  of 
mercy.  In  Ezekiel's  vision,  the  man  in  linen  is  com- 
manded to  take  coals  of  fire  from  between  the  cherubim, 
and  scatter  them  over  the  city.  In  the  second  Psalm, 
Christ  is  promised  the  heathen  for  his  inheritance,  and 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession  ;  and 
it  is  declared  of  his  rule,  "  Thou  shalt  break  them  with 
a  rod  of  iron,  thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  as  a  potter's 
vessel."  Isaiah  represents  Christ  as  coming  from  Edom, 
with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah,  with  the  mien  of  a  con- 
queror ;  his  garments  red  as  one  that  hath  trodden  the 
purple  grapes  of  the  wine-press.  From  these  scriptures, 
with  many  others,  it  is  evident  that  the  judgment  of  the 
world  is  committed  to  Christ,  and  that  he  is  the  Author 
of  all  events. 

2.  He  controls  them.  Satan  is  undoubtedly  a  subor- 
dinate agent,  in  exciting  men  to  deeds  of  wickedness 
and  bloodshed :   but,  whatever  may  be  his  agency,  he 


432  SERMONS. 

does  not  control  events ;  they  control  him :  he  often 
defeats  his  own  purpose.  Men  also  are  subordinate 
agents  ;  they  are  not  sovereigns,  but  subjects  ;  they  are 
overmastered  by  events  that  are  too  great  for  them,  are 
driven  before  them  like  chaff  by  the  storm.  It  might 
be  laid  down  as  a  universal  rule,  I  think,  that  wars  never 
turn  out  as  those  who  originate  them,  either  design  or 
anticipate.  No  conqueror  ever  ends  where  he  expected. 
Napoleon  appeared  to  direct  the  storm  for  a  time  in  his 
day,  but  it  was  but  a  short  time :  he  was  very  soon  over- 
powered, and  of  all  the  wrecks  of  that  time  his  was  the 
most  complete.  In  the  present  page,  which  a  Divine 
Providence  is  unfolding  before  our  eyes,  how  utterly 
insignificant  do  men  appear.  I  would  not  unduly  depre- 
ciate human  instrumentality ;  there  is  abundant  room 
for  the  display  of  human  wisdom  and  sagacity :  this  is  no 
apology  for  imbecility  and  cowardice,  either  in  the  cab- 
inet or  the  camp ;  nevertheless,  is  there  anyone  so  blind 
as  not  to  see  that  on  both  sides  these  events  control  man, 
and  not  men  events  ?  What  is  the  explanation  of  all 
this  ?  The  great  plan  is  God's,  men  are  his  subordinates. 
His  counsel  shall  stand,  and  he  will  do  all  his  pleasure. 
"  There  is  no  enchantment  against  Jacob,  neither  is  there 
any  divination  against  Israel."  The  success  of  men  is 
dependent  upon  their  plans  falling  in  with  the  divine 
will.  That  Christ  overrules  all,  is  the  clear  teaching  of 
Scripture :  the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptian  host  is  ascribed 
by  Moses  to  the  Lord.  "  I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  for 
he  hath  triumphed  gloriously :  the  horse  and  his  rider 
hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea.  .  .  .  Thy  right  hand,  O 
Lord,  is  become  glorious  in  power :  thy  right  hand  .  .  . 
hath  dashed  in  pieces  the  enemy." 


CHKIST  IX  HISTORY.  433 

To  him  David  ascribes  throughout  the  Psalms  his 
deliverance:  his  control  of  such  events  as  are  passing 
under  our  own  observation,  is  specially  declared  in 
innumerable  passages.  This  is  the  idea  of  the  second 
Psalm,  of  the  ninety-third,  and  similar  ones.  lie  shakes 
the  heavens  and  the  earth,  that  the  things  which  can  be 
shaken  may  be  removed,  and  that  those  which  cannot 
may  remain. 

Christ  works  all  things  according  to  the  counsel  of  his 
own  will,  and  overrules  and  directs  every  thing  with 
his  sovereign  power.  He  selects  his  own  instruments ; 
he  uses  them  as  he  sees  best :  and  above  all  the  pet  t  y 
ambitions  and  revengeful  purposes  of  men  is  his  own 
overruling  and  overmastering  will  and  purpose. 

3.  He  limits  all  events.  "  Surely  the  wrath  of  man 
shall  praise  thee  ;  the  remainder  of  wrath  shalt  thou 
restrain."  To  the  waves  he  says,  "  Hitherto  thou 
shalt  come,  and  no  farther."  Go  down  to  the  shore  of 
the  sea,  and  you  will  observe  that  every  rolling,  threaten- 
ing wave  only  curves  a  certain  distance,  then  breaks,  falls, 
and  dies  away  at  your  feet.  The  barrier  that  confine^ 
it  seems  to  be  a  very  feeble  one,  only  a  circle  of  sand  : 
nevertheless,  the  proudest  wave  is  impotent  to  pass  the 
limits.  So  it  is  with  the  raging  waves  of  human  pride 
and  passion  :  they  roll  back  and  break  at  the  command 
of  him  who  has  appointed  their  limit ;  they  come  so  far, 
and  there  they  cease.  Sennacherib  was  permitted  to 
come  a  certain  distance,  but  no  farther.  Hezekiah 
prayed  to  the  Lord.  The  angel  of  death  received  his 
commission,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand 
perished  in  a  single  night.  "  So  Sennacherib  king 
of  Assyria  departed,  and  went  and  returned,  and  dwelt 


434  SERMONS. 

at  Nineveh."  Illustrations  from  history  are  abundant. 
How  far  God  designs  to  permit  this  rebellion  to  roll 
its  waves,  I  do  not  pretend  to  determine,  but  it  has  its 
limit :  there  is  a  point,  unseen  to  mortal  eye,  but  known 
to  God,  that  it  can  no  more  pass  than  a  wall  of  adamant ; 
and  when  it  reaches  that  point,  it  must  die. 

The  result  is  dependent,  to  be  sure,  on  the  generals 
and  soldiers  of  the  armies  in  their  subordinate  position, 
but  far  more  upon  whether  our  cup  of  iniquity  is  full, 
and  God  means  to  destroy  us,  or  whether  he  has  as  yet 
mercy  in  store  for  us  as  a  nation. 

II.  I  remark  that  all  events  are  controlled  by  the 
Mediator  with  reference  to  the  plan  of  redemption. 
This,  I  think,  is  altogether  manifest  from  the  context, 
and  from  the  whole  tenor  of  the  Book  of  Revelation. 
This  personage  who  opens  the  book,  is  the  Lamb  slain : 
each  new  unfolding  of  the  mighty  plan  which  the  book 
discloses  has  reference  to  the  establishment  of  that  king- 
dom that  is  to  be  righteousness  and  peace. 

1.  Christ  is  himself  the  key  to  all  history.  The 
whole  providential  scheme  has  special  reference  to  him  ; 
he  stands  in  the  centre,  where  the  two  ages  meet ;  with 
him  the  old  terminates,  and  the  new  begins. 

Head  the  history  of  those  old  empires,  and  you  will 
find  this  one  thought  pervading  their  history :  their  con- 
trolling idea  was  universal  dominion.  Rome  at  length 
achieved  it,  and  gave  peace  to  the  world.  Then  Christ 
came  ;  the  temple  of  Janus,  the  god  of  war,  was  closed  ; 
and,  in  the  language  of  Milton's  magnificent  hymn,  — 

wt  No  war,  or  battle's  sound, 
Was  heard  the  world  around  : 

The  idle  spear  and  shield  were  high  up  hung ; 


CHRIST  IX  HISTORY.  435 

The  hooked  chariot  stood, 
Unstained  with  hostile  blood  ; 

The  trumpet  spake  not  to  the  armed  throng, 
And  kings  sat  still  with  awful  eye, 
As  if  they  surely  knew  their  sovran  Lord  was  by. 

But  peaceful  was  the  night 
Wherein  the  Prince  of  Light 

His  reign  of  peace  upon  the  earth  began." 

This  thought  of  universal  dominion  has  not  pervaded 
the  kingdoms  since :  even  Napoleon  did  not  aim  to  accom- 
plish it.  "  But  when  the  fulness  of  time  was  come,  God 
sent  forth  his  Son ;  "  and  this  has  reference,  not  only  to 
the  decree  of  God,  but  to  the  preparation  that  was  made 
in  the  nations  among  men.  The  time  of  his  appearance 
had  some  particular  relation  to  his  appearance.  So  have 
the  future  ages  been  unrolling  from  this  period  toward 
that  which  is  the  goal  of  all  history,  the  final  consum- 
mation, the  universal  triumph  of  Christianity. 

2.  Christianity  is  the  destructive  power.  The  most 
astonishing  doctrines  have  been  put  forth  and  accepted 
upon  this  head,  —  doctrines  that  are  contradicted  by 
every  page  of  apostolic  history,  and  of  the  early  Church. 
These  views  have  been  put  forth  in  this  country  witli  a 
positiveness  of  assertion  proportioned  to  the  baseless- 
ness of  their  foundation,  —  views  that,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  are  being  contradicted  by  the  present  terrible  con- 
flict; viz.,  that  the  religion  of  Christ  must  not  come 
in  conflict  with  society  or  its  institutions  as  they  exist. 
That  is  not  the  key  to  the  history  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  nor  of  the  early  Church..  Christ  was  revealed 
to  destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil.  Christianity  allies 
itself,  as  its  profound  historian  Xeander  asserts,  with  all 


40(3  SERMONS. 

that  is  purely  human.  It  came  into  contact  with  all  the 
ungodly  nature  of  mankind,  with  whatever  issued 
from  it,  or  was  connected  with  it :  it  announced  itself 
as  a  power  aiming  at  the  renovation  of  the  world,  and 
the  world  sought  to  maintain  itself  in  its  old  unright- 
eous character.  While  Christ  came  not  to  destroy,  but 
to  fulfil,  so,  too,  he  came,  not  to  send  peace  on  the  earth, 
but  a  sword.  The  question,  however,  we  are  told,  is, 
"What  is  the  manner  of  this  conflict  ?  How  is  the  gos- 
pel to  win?  by  a  steady  and  determined  opposition  to 
the  world,  or  by  a  ready  and  easy  accommodation? 
There  is  a  peace  party  in  religion  as  well  as  in  politics. 
The  same  profound  historian,  speaking  of  the  conflict 
of  Christianity  with  paganism,  remarks,  "  This  conflict 
might  in  many  cases,  at  least,  have  been  avoided,  if  the 
early  Church,  like  that  of  later  times,  had  been  in- 
clined to  accommodate  itself  to  the  world  more  than  the 
holiness  of  Christianity  allowed,  and  to  secularize  itself 
in  order  to  gain  the  world  as  a  whole."  But  with  the 
primitive  Christians  this  was  not  the  case :  they  were 
much  more  inclined  to  a  stern  repulsion  of  every  thing 
that  pertained  to  paganism,  even  of  that  which  had  but 
a  seeming  connection  with  it,  than  to  any  sort  of  lax 
accommodation.  And  assuredly  it  was  at  that  period 
far  more  wholesome,  and  better  adapted  to  preserve  the 
purity  of  Christian  doctrine  and  of  the  Christian  life,  to  go 
to  an  extreme  in  the  first  of  these  ways  than  in  the  last. 
The  manner  of  the  conflict  may  have  changed,  but 
the  principle  is  the  same  yet.  The  Church,  in  her  zeal 
to  increase  her  numbers  and  her  influence,  has  become 
secularized,  and  thus,  in  our  own  country,  proved  power- 
Less  to  grapple  with  the  giant  evils  of  the  day. 


CIIUIst  IN   HISTORY.  437 

The  so-called  Church,  however,  and  Christianity,  are 
not  identical.  The  religion  of  Christ  works  its  victo- 
rious way  independent  of  external  forms,  and  is  mighty 

through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  the  strongholds  of 
sin  and  Satan. 

What  is  to  be  observed  here,  and  carefully  noted,  is 
that  the  wars  of  the  modern  ages  have  been  all  con- 
nected with  religion  and  great  moral  questions,  and  that 
the  general  result  has  been  a  gain,  more  or  less,  for 
Christianity.  The  tumultuous  glory  and  mystery  of  the 
Apocalypse  is  a  revelation  of  the  manner  in  which,  as 
the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  opens  the  seals,  sonic  new- 
step  is  gained  for  his  glory  and  kingdom. 

I  shall  not  affirm  that  every  event  which  takes  place 
is  of  this  character.  For  the  time  it  may  prove  adverse. 
Such  appears,  for  example,  the  present  aspect  of  the 
French  conflict  with  the  historic  Republic  of  Mexico. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  long-run,  this  is  the  case  ;  and  in 
the  end  these  backward  steps  will  be  found  to  be  parts 
of  the  general  system  of  advance,  although  not  always 
in  a  wray  immediately  discernible  by  us.  This  is  the 
general  law  of  Christianity,  to  overturn  and  overturn 
and  overturn.  War  is  a  dreadful  scourge  and  judgment ; 
yet  it  is  under  the  control  of  the  Mediator,  and  those 
who  will  not  bow  to  his  sceptre  must  be  broken. 

3.  I  made  a  third  remark.  These  judgments  have 
not  only  an  important  bearing  on  the  final  results,  but 
they  prepare  the  way  for  tin-  present  spread  of  the  gos- 
pel. How  many  countries  have  been  opened  up  to  the 
truth  in  our  own  day.  and  in  almost  every  instance  by 
War!  —  a  large  part  of  India.  Turkey,  Italy.  China. 
Wherever  God  has  people,  there  the  prison-gates  must 


438  SERMONS. 

be  broken  down,  and  the  prisoners  go  forth.  This  war 
in  our  own  country  has  already  to  a  great  extent  freed 
the  South.  There  is  some  evidence  that  God  is  going 
to  take  away  the  disgrace  of  our  American  Church.  I 
hope  to  see  the  day  when  there  will  be  a  free  Bible 
throughout  the  whole  American  continent.  The  tri- 
umph will  then  be  near  ;  for,  when  Christ  is  heard,  he  so 
speaks  to  the  heart  that  men  will  not  only  hear,  but 
obey. 

III.  My  third  general  remark  is,  That  all  events  are 
tending  to  the  final  establishment  of  Christ's  kingdom 
throughout  the  earth. 

1.  This  is  the  uniform  declaration  of  Scripture: 
"  And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of 
heaven  set  up  a  kingdom,  which  shall  never  be  destroyed : 
and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other  people,  but  it 
shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms, 
and  it  shall  stand  for  ever."  "  Thy  kingdom  is  an  ever- 
lasting kingdom,  and  thy  dominion  endureth  throughout 
all  generations."  "  And  the  kingdom  and  dominion, 
and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole 
heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom, 
and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and  obey  him."  These 
are  the  true  words  of  a  God  who  cannot  lie ;  and  they 
give  us  the  undoubted  assurance  that  Christ  will  take  to 
himself  his  great  power,  and  reign  throughout  all  the 
earth. 

The  certainty  of  it  is  revealed :  the  time  is  not  so 
clearly  made  known. 

This  is  the  end  of  dim  revelation,  the  overthrow  of 
all  iniquity,  and  the  establishment  of  the  benign  reign 


CHRIST  IN  IIISTOKV.  439 

of  the  Prince  of  peace.  Let  us  not  be  over-anxious 
about  the  time:  the  day  of  glory  will  come.  Messiah 
is  on  his  march,  his  chariot-wheels  will  not  dela)  ; 
and  the  last  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  inspired 
Word  will  be  given.  "The  kingdoms  of  this  world 
have  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ." 

2.  The  past  is  an  earnest  of  the  future  in  this  re- 
spect. Admitted  that  Christianity  has  been  long  in  the 
world,  and  that  its  triumph  has  been  long  delayed ; 
what  then  ?  Is  not  this  very  tenacity  of  life  an  evidence 
of  its  divinity?  What  human  system  has  lived  as  long? 
Is  there  any  nation  that  has  survived  the  shock  of  two 
thousand  years?  Not  one.  Is  there  any  system  of 
belief?  Not  one.  Is  there  any  religion  that  exists 
in  the  form  in  which  it  did  in  the  days  of  Christ? 
None.  But  then,  it  has  gained,  and  more  within  the 
last  three  hundred  years  than  in  all  time  previous.  It 
has  proved  itself  the  strongest  power  that  was  ever 
introduced  among  men.  Its  defeat  has  been  a  thou- 
sand times  proclaimed ;  but  it  still  lives  with  a  strong 
and  vigorous  life,  going  forward  from  conquest  to 
victory. 

3.  Every  thing  in  the  present  condition  of  nations 
indicates  the  establishment  of  Christ's  kingdom.  I  am 
not  determining  prophetic  times.  I  have  often  ex- 
plained to  you  the  reason.  I  do  not  depreciate  pro- 
phetical studies.  I  hope  to  take  up  the  subject  with 
more  diligence  and  care  than  1  have  ever  been  able  to 
bestow  upon  it,  some  time  in  the  future.  The  best 
interpreters  think  we  are  under  the  opening  of  the  last 
seal;   although,  even  according  to  this   calculation,  the 


440  SERMONS. 

millennium  cannot  commence  until  about  the  year 
1946.  Let  that  pass.  The  present  indicates  that 
the  truth  will  conquer,  and  that  "  the  mountain  of 
the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the 
mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills ;  and 
all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it." 


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